When it comes to November 2022 candidates, the GOP sure knows how to pick 'em. As in leading candidate for governor Ryan Kelley, who was arrested this morning for his alleged involvement in the Capitol riots. The anti-science real estate agent, who protested lockdowns in 2020 when Covid was at its worse, allegedly encouraged insurrectionists to climb up a stairway of the Capitol building and destroyed Federal property. He then later referred to the riots as an "energizing event."
From The Washington Post:
A contender in the state's crowded Aug. 8 primary, Kelley, 40, of Allendale, Mich., faces four counts punishable by up to a year in prison, including trespassing, disorderly conduct, committing an act of violence against a person or property on restricted grounds, and depredation of federal property, according to charging papers.
Kelley was set to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sally J. Berens of Grand Rapids, Mich., on Thursday afternoon, according to the U.S. attorney's office for Washington, which is prosecuting Capitol breach cases. His home in Allendale, Mich., was searched by the FBI on Thursday morning. …
Charging papers allege that Kelley waved a crowd up the stairway, and supported another rioter who pulled a metal barricade onto scaffolding that was holding up the stage for President Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration. Kelley "at approximately 2:05 p.m., used his hands to pull a covering off" the inauguration scaffolding, and "continued to gesture to the crowd, consistently indicating that they should move toward the stairs that led to the entrance of the U.S. Capitol interior spaces," the charging papers state.
In a March 2021 interview with MLive, Kelley said: "I think that event was definitely an energizing event, right? … It will live on in history, absolutely. For a lot of different things."
This is the same unpatriotic gentleman who led Michigan's primary race for governor in a May poll. Let's hope Republicans can overcome their addled senses and do better than this.
