{"id":114586,"date":"2026-01-12T02:19:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T02:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/114586\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T02:19:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T02:19:07","slug":"pardoned-jan-6-rioter-who-hauled-nancy-pelosis-lectern-around-us-capitol-runs-for-office-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/114586\/","title":{"rendered":"Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter who hauled Nancy Pelosi’s lectern around US Capitol runs for office in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

A pardoned Jan. 6 rioter who went viral after he was photographed<\/a> hauling then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi\u2019s lectern around the ravaged US Capitol Building announced he is running for office \u2014 on the fifth anniversary of the harrowing rampage.<\/p>\n

Adam Johnson, a 41-year-old father of five sons, is campaigning as a \u201cconservative fighter\u201d for Manatee County\u2019s at-large commissioner seat, according to his campaign website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Adam Johnson, a 41-year-old father who broke into the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is running for office in Florida. EPA<\/p>\n

Johnson is better known as the \u201cLectern guy\u201d after he was photographed grinning while carrying Pelosi\u2019s podium around the US Capitol<\/a> during the Jan. 6 riots. When he made it to the Capitol Rotunda, he planted it in the center of the room and pretended to make a fake speech, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

He pleaded guilty to entering and remaining in a restricted building or ground, a misdemeanor that landed him 75 days in federal prison, plus a $5,000 fine and 200 hours of community service.<\/p>\n

Johnson is better known as the \u201cLectern guy\u201d after he was photographed hauling Nancy Pelosi\u2019s podium around the Capitol Rotunda. Getty Images<\/p>\n

During his sentencing, Johnson admitted posing with Pelosi\u2019s lectern was a \u201cvery stupid idea,\u201d but showed no remorse in the immediate aftermath. <\/p>\n

While he was driving home from Washington, DC, Johnson boasted about how he \u201cbroke the internet\u201d and was \u201cfinally famous,\u201d prosecutors said during his speedy trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cI walked into a building, I took a picture with a piece of furniture, and I left,\u201d Johnson told CBS News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Jan. 6 rioters pushed past metal barriers and Capitol police<\/a> before they shattered reinforced glass windows and doors to forcibly enter the US Capitol while the 2020 presidential election votes were being certified inside.<\/p>\n

President Trump pardoned all Jan. 6 rioters at the start of his second term. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Some came prepared with weapons, including pepper spray and baseball bats, and chanted various threats of violence against members of Congress \u2014 including calls for former Vice President Mike Pence to be hanged<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By the time President Trump pardoned the rioters at the beginning of his second term, Johnson had already completed his sentence. He didn\u2019t lose any of his rights, including his ability to serve in public office, because he was convicted of a misdemeanor crime, not a felony.<\/p>\n

Johnson told WWSB<\/a> that filing to run on Jan. 6, 2026, was \u201cnot a coincidence\u201d and was \u201cgood for getting the buzz out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s campaign website is riddled with complaints as he\u2019s grown \u201ctired of watching MAGA principles get ignored at the local level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson isn\u2019t the first convicted Jan. 6 rioter to run for public office. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s running because conservatives deserve leadership that actually fights for them. Real conservative leadership that exposes corruption, protects taxpayers, and puts residents over special interests. Adam can\u2019t be bought. He can\u2019t be bullied. And he won\u2019t back down from exposing corruption wherever he finds it,\u201d his website reads.<\/p>\n

Johnson told the outlet that his psychology degree makes him the perfect person to \u201cdeal with crazy people\u201d and cited his church work as a hallmark of political preparedness. <\/p>\n

Another Jan. 6 alum, Jake Lang<\/a>, is running for Secretary of State Marco Rubio\u2019s vacant US Senate seat<\/a> in Florida. He was charged with assaulting an officer, civil disorder and other crimes before he was pardoned by Trump.<\/p>\n

Three other convicted Jan. 6 rioters tried, and failed, to run for Congress in 2024 as Republicans. <\/p>\n

Convicted felons lose their right to vote, but nothing impedes them from running for federal office. Restrictions can still be implemented at state-level offices, depending on the state\u2019s laws.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A pardoned Jan. 6 rioter who went viral after he was photographed hauling then-Speaker of the House Nancy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8601,58019,409,28,30,3475,29,58020,4278],"class_list":["post-114586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-capitol","tag-capitol-riot","tag-donald-trump","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-man","tag-florida-news","tag-nancy-pelosi","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}