Republican Ryan Kelley, a candidate for Michigan governor, was arrested by federal agents at his home in connection with his role in Jan. 6. 2021, Capitol riot. The FBI arrested Kelley, 40, on four charges, including that he entered or remained on restricted grounds and that he engaged in physical violence on restricted grounds. Kelley was captured outside the Capitol building in several videos taken on Jan. 6, 2021. The footage shows that, over a two-hour period, he climbed scaffolding and waved at the crowd to climb the stairs to the Capitol, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Kelley was released on bond and will appear next week in a virtual hearing. His lawyer, Heath Lynch, said Kelley had “every intention of continuing his campaign in earnest.” Kelley said last year that he was in Washington, D.C., during the Capitol riot. He claimed that he left “once things started getting crazy.” Kelley is among a slate of Republicans running to replace Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat. A survey has found that Kelley is the leading Republican, with nineteen percent of voters supporting him. Kelley, a real-estate broker, is running on a platform that includes loosening the state’s gun laws and declaring the COVID-19 pandemic over.