Ryan Kelley Arrested for Role in January 6th Capitol Riots

Former Michigan gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley pleaded guilty on July 27, 2023, to a misdemeanor charge related to his involvement in the January 6th Capitol riot. 

 

This comes over a year after the FBI raided Kelley’s home on June 9, 2022 and arrested him in connection with the investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

 

Special Agent Mara Schneider, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Detroit, confirmed that federal agents used a search warrant.

 

Kelley was charged with allegedly knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building illegally; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; and knowingly engaging in acts of physical violence against  United States Capitol police officers, many of whom were severely injured during the attack. 

 

He was also charged with willfully injuring or committing "any depredation" against property of the United States.

 

Evidence for these charges includes a video of Kelley standing outside the Capitol building during the riots after President Donald Trump's call to action. In the video, Kelley appears to yell: "Come on, let's go! This is it! This is — this is war."

 

Kelley, who sells real estate, was at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. when protestors rioted and illegally entered the building on Jan. 6, 2021. 

 

According to a plea agreement document, Kelley admitted that he “rushed past U.S. Capitol police officers and started climbing the northwest scaffolding,” he “climbed onto an architectural feature next to the North West stairs and began gesturing to the crowd below by waving his hand towards the stairs leading up the U.S. Capitol building,” and that he also “used his hands to support another rioter who was pulling a metal bike rack onto the scaffolding.” 

 

Kelley ran for governor in Michigan last year as a Republican. He was arrested prior to the Republican primary, which he lost to Tudor Dixon. Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer won reelection.

 

Kelley’s sentencing is set for October 17.