The man who was photographed carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern during the Capitol Hill riots has been arrested, police said.
Florida resident Adam Christian Johnson, 36, was booked into the Pinellas County jail on Friday night, and he’s being held on a federal warrant, the Miami Herald reported.
Adam Christian Johnson, 36, smiled and waved as he was caught on camera carrying U.S. @SpeakerPelosi‘s podium as he walked through the U.S. Capitol Building with other rioters. He is married with 5 children.https://t.co/sNb084yjqN pic.twitter.com/3i1fNjqmIz
— Cleavon MD (@Cleavon_MD) January 7, 2021
Johnson, who according to his social media is a stay-at-home father who lives with his wife and their five children, traveled from Parrish, Florida, to Washington, D.C., where he was reportedly one of a swath of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday as Congress was set on certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
In social media posts that are no longer available, Johnson said he was in the district ahead of the riots, and he also disparaged the Black Lives Matter movement.
The chaos at the Capitol led to five deaths, countless injuries, the destruction of federal property, a lockdown of the Capitol, and dozens of arrests, but it did not stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College for Biden. As of the night of the riot, the Metropolitan Police Department had arrested 52 people in connection with what happened at the Capitol.
Federal prosecutors also announced charges against 13 individuals, including a West Virginia legislator, a man who allegedly brought Molotov cocktails, and the man who was photographed in Pelosi’s office with his feet up on a desk. In announcing those charges, Ken Cole, a top prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C, said that investigators were pursuing at least 55 cases and that 15 people were likely being criminally charged in the near future.
