Just three days after seditious rioters invaded the U.S. Capitol building, a looter who was photographed in one of the most viral images from the event has been arrested and charged.
NBC News reports that Adam Johnson, 36, was apprehended by police on Friday night (Jan. 8) at his home in Parrish, Fla. The Pinellas County Sherriff’s Office confirms that Johnson is being held in jail on a federal warrant. Johnson is believed to be the man who’s seen waving at a photographer as he made his way out of the Capitol with a lectern that belongs to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, he’s been charged with one count of knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority, one count of theft of government property, and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Johnson, who is a father of five and is married to a local doctor, had previously made social posts to his now-deleted accounts that showed him in Washington, D.C. prior to the riots.
It didn’t take long to identify Johnson in the now-viral photo. Apparently, local residents of his hometown of Parrish recognized Johnson instantly. Allan Mestel, who’s an acquaintance of Johnson, contacted the FBI once he realized it was Johnson in the photo from the Capitol riots.
“I felt a little disassociated for a minute,” Mestel told NBC Tampa affiliate WFLA-TV. It was almost like, it was surreal. I mean it was surreal. I wasn’t surprised, but I was shocked. Couldn’t believe it, the fact that I recognize somebody from our hometown, was, I was floored.”
Johnson is one of several Trump supporters who caused mayhem inside the U.S. Capitol building. Richard Barnett of Arkansas, who was spotted sitting at Nancy Pelosi’s desk, and West Virginia lawmaker Derrick Evans were both arrested this week for their involvement in the riots.