GOP gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley arrested by FBI for role in Jan. 6 attack
The FBI arrested Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley Thursday in western Michigan on misdemeanor charges connected to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Video appears to show Kelley on Capitol Hill as Donald Trump loyalists attempted to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election won by President Biden.
“Come on! let’s go! This is it!” he seemingly shouts in that video. “This is war, baby!”
Kelley, along with four other GOP candidates, hope to unseat Michigan’s Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer in November.
Ryan Kelley, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, speaks to conservative activists that are demanding another investigation into former President Donald Trump's loss during a rally on Feb. 8, 2022 outside the Michigan Capitol in Lansing, Mich. (Jake May/)
According to the Detroit News, Kelley encouraged a crowd in Livingston County in January to unplug voting machines if they “see something you don’t like happening with the machine.”
Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson responded by warning Kelley and his supporters that tampering with voting equipment is against the law. FBI spokeswoman Mara Schneider said Thursday morning Kelley would appear before a judge in Grand Rapids, Mich. later in the day.
Kelley’s arrest came hours before a bipartisan congressional committee in Washington, D.C., planned to begin hearings on the events of Jan. 6 in connection to the former president’s efforts to remain in power. His office has not yet commented on the FBI arrest.
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The 40-year-old real estate broker from Grand Rapids, Mich., has previously acknowledged participating in the demonstration at the Capitol that followed a speech by Trump, who continues to falsely insist he won the election he lost by more than 7 million votes. But according to Kelley, he did not enter the Capitol building itself on that day.
Federal investigators provided documents that included Kelley wearing a baseball cap backwards seemingly helping to whip fellow protesters into a frenzy. Those court records are said to claim he was part of a crowd that ascended the Capitol stairs and headed toward a building entrance forcing police officers to retreat.
Kelley appears likely to join at least 800 other suspects charged in connection with the assault on the Capitol. More than 300 people have pleaded guilty to participating in the chaos seen around the world at the start of 2020. Most of those involved in the insurrection pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts. Some alleged militants stand accused of seditious conspiracy.
With News Wire Services
