Man in viral Capitol riot photo set to take plea deal
BRADENTON, Fla. — A Southwest Florida man photographed with Nancy Pelosi’s lectern during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is scheduled to take a plea deal later this month.
Adam Johnson, of Parrish in Manatee County, was initially 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 within days of the insurrection.
But in April, U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Harvey first granted a continuance in the case, delaying a status hearing to allow prosecutors and defense attorneys more time to review the evidence discovered in the case and for both sides to try to negotiate a plea deal.
On Oct. 27, the current case against Johnson was closed and a new case was filed, charging him only with entering or remaining in any restricted building. Two days later, a plea agreement hearing was scheduled for 10 a.m. Nov. 22.
Details of what the potential deal have not been made public, but the latest charge is punishable by a fine and/or up to 10 years in federal prison.
Johnson, 36, was identified within hours of the insurrection by Manatee County residents on social media, after chief Getty Images photographer Win Mcnamee captured Johnson waving and smiling as he walked out of the House chambers with Pelosi’s lectern and the photo went viral. His identity was also reported in tips to the FBI.
The lectern, valued at more than $1,000 according to the House curator, was later found by Senate staff in the Red corridor of the Senate wing off the Rotunda in the Capitol.
Johnson was arrested after surrendering to U.S. Marshals with the assistance of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office two days after the riot. He was released days later by a federal judge in Tampa.
At the time of his release from custody, one of his defense attorneys, Dan Eckhart, addressed the challenges the viral photo presented for the case.
“I don’t know how else to explain that, but yeah, that would be a problem. I am not a magician and neither is David (Bigney), so we got a photograph of our client inside the federal building, inside the Capitol,” Eckhart said.
Johnson, a stay-athome father of five, also documented his trip to Washington, D.C., on social media, disparaging law enforcement and the Black Lives Matter movement.
“The streets of DC and many cities around the country don’t board up for Trump rallies, they board up because of rioters. We have watched our cities burn and lives lost. Last night we watched police defend the very groups that have vandalized and terrorize businesses,” Johnson said in one such Facebook post.