BRADENTON, Fla. — A Florida man convicted of crimes after grabbing then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern and posing for photographs with it during the U.S. Capitol riot is running for county office.
Adam Johnson filed to run as a Republican for an at-large seat on the Manatee County Commission on Tuesday. That was the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, where he was photographed smiling and waving as he carried Pelosi’s lectern, commonly known as the speaker’s podium, after the pro-Trump mob’s attack on the Capitol as people there sought to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s election win.
Johnson told WWSB-TV that it was “not a coincidence” that he filed for office on Jan. 6, saying that “it’s definitely good for getting the buzz out there.” His campaign logo is an outline of the viral photograph of him carrying the lectern.
He’s far from the first person implicated in the Jan. 6 riot to run for office. At least three ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2024 as Republicans. And there are signs that the Republican Party is welcoming back more people who were convicted of Jan. 6 crimes after President Trump pardoned them.
Jake Lang, who was charged with assaulting an officer, civil disorder and other crimes before he was pardoned, recently announced he is running for Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s vacant U.S. Senate seat in Florida.
Johnson placed the lectern in the center of the Capitol Rotunda, posed for pictures and pretended to make a speech, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty in 2021 to entering and remaining in a restricted building or ground, a misdemeanor that he equated in the interview to “jaywalking.”
“I think I exercised my 1st Amendment right to speak and protest,” Johnson said.
After driving home on Jan. 6, 2021, Johnson bragged that he “broke the internet” and was “finally famous,” prosecutors said.
Johnson served 75 days in prison followed by one year of supervised release. The judge also ordered Johnson to pay a $5,000 fine and perform 200 hours of community service.
Johnson told U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton at sentencing that posing with Pelosi’s lectern was a “very stupid idea,” but now says he only regrets his action because of the prison sentence.
“I walked into a building, I took a picture with a piece of furniture and I left,” he now says.
Four other Republicans have filed to run so far in the Aug. 18 primary in the deeply Republican county. The incumbent isn’t seeking reelection.
In March, Johnson filed a lawsuit against Manatee County and six of its commissioners, objecting to the county’s decision not to seek attorney’s fees from someone who sued the county and dropped the lawsuit. The county has called Johnson’s claims “completely meritless and unsupported by law.”
Johnson said he objects to what he sees as high property taxes and overdevelopment in the county south of Tampa, and he says current county leaders are wasteful.
“I will be more heavily scrutinized than any other candidate who is running in this race,” Johnson said. “This is a positive and a good takeaway for every single citizen, because for once in our life, we will know our local politicians who are doing things.”
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