Politics

FBI arrests Michigan GOP gov candidate Ryan Kelley for Jan. 6 involvement

June 09, 2022, 11:45 AM

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Ryan Kelley

Petition fraud was apparently just an appetizer in the spectacle that is the Michigan GOP gubernatorial race.

On Thursday, the FBI arrested Ryan Kelley, a real estate agent who a recent poll had leading the field of five primary candidates, following a raid at his home.

According to The New York Times, the Allendale resident faces misdemeanors including disorderly conduct for his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Kelley was filmed outside during the riot, but has previously denied doing anything illegal. From The Times:

According to a criminal complaint, Mr. Kelley was charged with committing violence against a person or property on restricted grounds, damaging federal property, disorderly conduct and entering a restricted building or grounds without permission. 

... An F.B.I. agent described Mr. Kelley’s actions in a filing to the court, saying at one point that Mr. Kelley appeared to use his phone “to film the crowd assault and pushing past U.S. Capitol police officers.” The filing also said that Mr. Kelley used “his hands to support another rioter” who was pulling down a metal barricade, and that he gestured “to the crowd, consistently indicating” that it should continue moving toward the entrance to the Capitol.

Mr. Kelley was able to be identified, in part, because what he wore on Jan. 6 was similar to the outfit he wore at the American Patriot Council “Judgement Day” rally in Lansing, Mich., in May 2020, according to the filing.

The raid comes after five other Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidates were disqualified due to petition fraud. An independent statewide poll in late May showed Kelley leading the remaining field with 19-percent support, though 49 percent of the 400 respondents were undecided.

The Michigan Democratic Party previously shared video of Kelley outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, yelling "Come on, let's go! This is it! This is — this is war, baby!"

Now County Clerk Barb Byrum of the Ingham County, a Democrat, tweets Thursday afternoon: "The Republican primary is like a bad reality TV show."


Read more:  The New York Times


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