Adam Christian Johnson, the man identified by acquaintances on social media as the man seen carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s podium through the U.S. Capitol building during Wednesday’s riots, has been arrested in Florida, local and federal law enforcement records show.
The demeanor in Johnson’s booking photo, as released by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, is markedly different than that in an image alleged to be of him captured just a few days earlier inside the capitol by Getty Images photographer Win McNamee.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia on Saturday released information surrounding Johnson’s arrest. Per a press release from that office:
Adam Johnson, 36, of Florida, 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. Johnson was arrested yesterday and is currently in custody.
It is alleged that on Jan. 6, 2021, Johnson 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.
A statement of facts released by that office explains that the FBI compared the now-infamous Getty Images photo and social media screen shots contained in news articles with Johnson’s driver’s license photo. The license photo was “reasonably believe[d]” to be a match to the man in the Getty Images and social media posts, an agent wrote.
A screen shot of Adam Johnson’s social media posts is contained within court papers compiled by the FBI and filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
“According to the House of Representatives’ curator, the Speaker’s lectern has a market value of more than $1,000,” the FBI statement says.
Johnson, 36, of Parrish, Fla., is said by the local newspaper to be “a stay-at-home father[] who makes and sells furniture, while his wife is a doctor.” Another report described Johnson’s views:
Before being deleted or taken down, Johnson’s social media accounts included posts that he was Washington, D.C., ahead of the riots. In one, he disparaged the Black Lives Matter movement and law enforcement officers who defend First Amendment protected rights.
A local photographer told the Bradenton Herald that Johnson held “extreme” right-wing views, which had become a problem, and that he “knew it was him” the minute he saw the widely circulated Getty Images photo.
Johnson’s arrest was one of three reported Saturday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Online jail records maintained by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office indicate that Johnson has tattoos depicting “God, wings,” and at least one “cross.” The records indicate that he remained behind bars on a hold from a warrant issued by the the U.S. Marshal’s Service as of Saturday afternoon.
Read the FBI’s Statement of Facts below:
Adam Johnson Statement of Facts by Law&Crime on Scribd
[Image from capitol interior via Win McNamee/Getty Images; mugshot via Pinellas Co., Fla. Sheriff’s Office]
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