Ryan Kelley is one of the five Republican candidates for Michigan governor, he was charged with misdemeanors on Thursday for his role in the 2021 postelection riot at the United States Capitol.
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Details about his family and the number of children he has is not been revealed to the public yet but rather what leads to his arrest by the FBI.
The 40-year-old Kelley was arrested in western Michigan and awaits a court hearing in Grand Rapids, FBI spokeswoman Mara Schneider said. His arrest hours before the House committee investigating the insurrection holds a widely-anticipated public hearing, showing never seen the video, audio, and an array of evidence collected by the panel exemplifying the deadly violence that erupted that day.
There was no immediate comment from his campaign. Kelley’s participation in the Jan. 6 insurrection has been widely known. In a court document, federal investigators filed photos of him in a baseball cap worn backward, trying to rally the pro- Donald Trump crowd.
An affidavit filed by the FBI says Kelley was captured on video outside the Capitol, where the repeatedly waved to the crowd, directing them toward stairs leading into the building.
He is accused of disruptive conduct, injuring public property, and entering restricted space without permission, according to the criminal complaint.
He declined to participate in a debate last week because organizers of a public policy conference on Mackinac Island required proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test.
During the early months of the pandemic, Kelley organized a protest at the Michigan Capitol, inviting heavily armed militias to gather inside the statehouse.
He has told The Associated Press that militia members are “law-abiding, lawful citizens that love this country, and maybe you get a couple of them that are bad apples. Question for you is, are bad apples pretty much in everything that we have as far as groups?”
