https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fbi-arrests-gop-candidate-for-michigan-governor-ryan-kelley-on-charges-tied-to-jan-6-riot/ar-AAYgCWb?bk=1&ocid=msedgntp&cvid
LANSING — The FBI raided the home of Michigan gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley on Thursday and arrested him in connection with the investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to federal charging documents.
Five months after Jan. 6 attack, the state Democratic Party of Michigan shared a video appearing to show Kelley, a Republican, standing outside the Capitol building during the riots after President Donald Trump's call to action. In the video, Kelley appears to yell: "Come on, let's go! This is it! This is — this is war."
Special Agent Mara Schneider, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Detroit, confirmed that federal agents used a search warrant.
Kelley, who sells real estate, was at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. when protestors rioted and illegally entered the building on Jan. 6, 2021, though he never confirmed he went inside and has denied doing anything illegal.
A Kelley campaign spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. A call to Kelley's house seeking comment was not answered.
The charges, contained in a charging document filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. do not accuse Kelley of being involving in plotting any attack that day. Instead, they charged him with allegedly knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building illegally; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; and knowingly engaging in acts of physical violence against persons or property. .
He was also charged with willfully injuring or commiting "any depredation" against property of the United States.
Kelley’s only experience in government came in Allendale, Michigan, where he was an appointed member of the township’s planning commission, starting in Dec.2019. He is no longer a planning commission member, according to the township's website.
His involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots had prompted some Allendale residents to call for his removal during township board meetings in Jan. 2021. Kelley had also clashed with Black Lives Matter protesters in Allendale in the wake of George Floyd's murder in 2020.
Kelley also angered residents for his defense of a controversial statue in the township’s Garden of Honor depicting a Confederate soldier as part of its Civil War memorial. Kelley organized multiple rallies around the statue, at one point garnering criticism for inviting William Null, one of the suspects facing felony charges in Antrim County's 86th District Court for his role in the alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in Oct. 2020.