Michigan GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Arrested by FBI for Alleged Role in January 6 Riot

Ryan Kelley, a candidate in Michigan’s Republican gubernatorial primary, has been arrested by the FBI for his role in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

FBI spokeswoman Mara Schneider told the Associated Press that Kelley was arrested at his home in Allendale Township in Western Michigan at 9:30 AM local time by agents from the Grand Rapids Field Office and was awaiting hearing before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. Kelley currently serves as the Planning Commissioner of the township. The FBI also executed a search of his home at the time of the arrest.

According to a criminal complaint filed by the FBI, Kelley was accused of “disruptive conduct, injuring public property, and entering restrictive space without permission,” and has been charged with a misdemeanor for entering the grounds of the Capitol. The complaint was signed by Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

A man who appears to be Kelley appears in photographs and videos used by the Department of Justice in its prosecution of other defendants. In the photographs, he is allegedly seen wearing a black sunglasses, a black jacket, and backward-worn baseball cap.

The complaint, obtained by Fox News, states that Kelley used his phone to film the mob assaulting and pushing through police officers on their way up to scaffolding that surrounded the Northwest entrance of the Capitol. A man who is believed to be Kelley can be seen in photos standing atop the scaffolding summoning the crowd to surge toward the building. It’s unclear whether Kelley actually entered the Capitol Building. A video shared by the Michigan Democratic Party shows Kelley allegedly ascending the steps of the Capitol saying “This is war, baby.”

Kelley’s arrest comes on the day that the House of Representative’s Select Committee on the January 6 Attack on the Capitol will hold a primetime hearing to lay out its findings after an 18-month investigation. The committee has been widely criticized by Republicans for being partisan in nature, especially after a list of suggested Republican members, including Congressman Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), drawn up by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) was rejected by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.). Two House Republicans – Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) and Liz Cheney (Wyo.) – presently serve on the committee, which is expected to blame former President Donald Trump in some capacity for the attack.

Kelley’s participation in the event and support for Trump was a plank of his candidacy. However, in an interview in May, Kelley denied that he entered the Capitol building or violated any law. “I never had the intention to and did not go inside, nor did I have an altercation with police officers,” he said.

Kelley has previously been involved in several controversial protest events, including in 2020 against Covid-19 pandemic measures and Black Lives Matter riots. On April 30, 2020, he organized a rally at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing to protest against lockdowns, which was attended by armed protesters who later entered the building and shouted at lawmakers from the galleries of the state House of Representatives’ chamber.

He also organized a multi-state “Nationwide Freedom March” against Covid restrictions on October 24 of that year. On his campaign website, Kelley claims that in 2020 he stood guard near a Civil War statute with a firearm to prevent “BLM and Antifa” protesters from taking it down.

Republicans were quick to question whether the FBI’s arrest of Kelley was politically motivated, including Kelley’s rivals in the gubernatorial primary. Businessman Kevin Rinke, also running for the GOP nomination, tweeted that he “hoped the FBI is acting appropriately, because the timing here raises serious questions.”

Kelley’s arrest comes after five other candidates in the primary were disqualified, including former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, for submitting thousands of false signatures on nomination papers. The winner of the primary on August 2 will face off against Governor Gretchen Whitmer, the presumptive Democratic nominee.