Capitol Riot Charges For Michigan Republican Governor Candidate

MICHIGAN — The FBI raided the Michigan home of Republican candidate for governor Ryan Kelley and arrested him Thursday morning, FBI Detroit spokeswoman Mara Schneider confirmed.

Ryan is charged with several misdemeanors, including disorderly and disruptive conduct, injuring public property and unlawfully entering restricted space.

Federal agents told Patch that Kelley, 40, was arrested in connection to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol breach after a tipster gave federal agents photos of a person they believe is Kelley at the riot. Kelley was charged with a misdemeanor and was set to make his initial appearance Thursday afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

The information provided by the tipster showed Kelley at the U.S. Capitol wearing a black coat, a backwards black baseball cap with a rectangular U.S. flag emblem above the bill and aviator sunglasses, according to the Department of Justice.

A video posted on the Twitter account “@MichiganTea” has the same or similar pictures and appears to show Kelley saying, "Come on, let’s go! This is it! This is– this is war, baby!" as he moved towards the Capitol building, according to the Department of Justice.

Kelley, a real estate broker from Allendale, was one of five Republican candidates seeking to challenge Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November after five other Republican candidates were disqualified for massive fraud on their petition forms.