Adam Johnson, the man photographed smiling and waving while carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern during the riot at the Capitol on Wednesday, has been arrested. The photograph went viral, and authorities soon identified the man as Johnson, 36, a resident of Parrish, Florida.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Johnson allegedly “illegally entered the United States Capitol and removed the Speaker of the House’s lectern from where it had been stored on the House side of the Capitol building. A search of open sources led law enforcement to Johnson, who is allegedly seen in a widely circulated photo inside the Capitol carrying the lectern.”
The Bradenton Herald reported that Johnson is a stay-at-home father who lives with his wife, a doctor, and five children.
Johnson was charged with “one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; one count of theft of government property; and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds,” according to the DOJ.
He was arrested Friday night and is being held on a federal warrant, awaiting trial.
He was one of three men charged Saturday in federal court in the District of Columbia in connection with the riots. At least 13 people of several dozen arrested in connection with the riots are facing federal charges.
Jacob Anthony Chansley, a.k.a. Jake Angeli, who was seen wearing “horns, a bearskin headdress, red, white and blue face paint, shirtless” and carrying a “spear, approximately 6 feet in length, with an American flag tied just below the blade” when he entered the Capitol, was also arrested, according to the DOJ. He has been “charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.”
Derrick Evans, 35, of West Virginia, was the third man charged Saturday.
Evans “a recently elected member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, streamed live to his Facebook page a video of himself joining and encouraging a crowd unlawfully entering the U.S. Capitol,” according to the DOJ. “In the video, Evans is allegedly seen crossing the threshold of the doorway into the U.S. Capitol and shouting, ‘We’re in, we’re in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!'”
He is charged with “one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds.”
Another man, captured in a viral photo sitting with his feet resting on Pelosi’s desk inside the Capitol, has also been taken into custody, federal authorities said Friday.
Richard Barnett, of Gravette, Arkansas, was taken into custody early Friday. He is being charged with at least three counts: knowingly entering and remaining in a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and theft of public property, according to Ken Kohl, the principal assistant U.S. Attorney in D.C.
“Just because you’ve left the D.C. region, you can still expect a knock on the door if we find out that you were part of the criminal activity at the Capitol,” said Steven D’Antuono of the FBI’s field office in Washington.
