Ryan Kelley speaks to conservative activists who were demanding another investigation into former President Donald Trump's 2020 election loss during a rally on Feb. 8 outside the Michigan Capitol in Lansing.
The FBI arrested Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley on misdemeanor charges at his West Michigan home Thursday for participating in the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Kelley, 40, is accused of unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct, violence against a person or property, and damaging government property.
The execution of a search warrant and arrest — the latest upheaval in the GOP primary — were first reported by Crain's Detroit Business.
Kelley, who lives in Allendale near Grand Rapids, was released from custody after appearing in federal court in Grand Rapids. He declined to answer questions outside the courthouse, where some of his supporters gathered. His campaign posted on Facebook: "political prisoner" — a sentiment that party leaders echoed.
The real estate broker, one of five remaining Republican candidates in the August primary, attended the riot but has said he did not enter the building.
The FBI alleges that Kelley was in a crowd of people who assaulted and pushed past law enforcement. Footage shows Kelley using his hands to support a rioter who pulled a metal barricade onto scaffolding, according to an FBI document. He pulled a covering off a temporary structure that was erected for the inauguration and gestured for the crowd to move toward stairs that led inside the Capitol, the FBI alleges.
A still image from a YouTube video cited in the FBI's statement of facts against Ryan Kelley, which says he "indicated by waving his hand that the crowd behind him should move towards the stairs leading into the U.S. Capitol building."
The FBI received an anonymous tip on Jan. 16, 2021, saying Kelley had been at the uprising. The tipster provided photos of him at the Capitol. The FBI also says one of its confidential informants identified Kelley from news video of the riot. The informant had been giving information to the FBI since 2020 about domestic terrorism groups in Michigan.
Kelley also organized an armed protest against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders at the state Capitol in 2020.
The raid came as a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack prepared to go public with its findings, starting with a prime-time hearing Thursday night.
The arrest came two weeks after five candidates, including two top contenders James Craig and Perry Johnson, failed to submit enough valid voter signatures to qualify for the ballot after state election officials discovered widespread forgery by people paid to circulate petitions. The state elections bureau has said it has no reason to believe the candidates or campaigns knew of the fraud.
Ron Weiser, chairman of the state Republican Party, criticized the charges.
“Democrats are weaponizing our justice system in an unprecedented way against their political opponents. We are not a third-world nation," he said in a statement. "Law and order are the bedrock of our democracy, but justice is not served when it is driven by a political agenda."
But Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said the charges against Kelley show Republican gubernatorial candidates' "callous disregard for the principles of democracy," saying his rivals "have equally shouldered the same baseless lies" about the 2020 election that spurred Kelley to storm the Capitol.
The riot left more than 100 police officers injured, many beaten and bloodied, as the crowd of pro-Trump rioters, some armed with pipes, bats and bear spray, charged into the Capitol. The Justice Department has arrested and charged more than 800 people for the violence that day, the biggest dragnet in its history.
Kelley had raised just $98,000 through December, far less than other GOP candidates such as chiropractor Garrett Soldano (nearly $1.4 million) and former conservative news host Tudor Dixon ($505,000), who recently secured backing from the wealthy DeVos family. Self-funding businessman Kevin Rinke has spent millions to campaign.
The primary winner will face Whitmer in November.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
I’m at the 11200 block of Wild Duck Lane in Allendale, the home of Mich GOP gov candidate Ryan Kelley. Reports Kelley was arrested earlier today and FBI at his home. No super obvious police presence at the moment. @emilyjanelawler @freep @HollandSentinel pic.twitter.com/Ya2Nk4LHbB
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