Formal gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelly pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges related to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, Fox News reported. Kelley placed third in the Republican race in Michigan in 2022.
He had been arrested a year ago but appeared before the U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids Thursday. The plea came just days before his July 31 trial was expected to begin.
Kelley will be sentenced on Oct. 17 for his role in the so-called "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington, D.C., that turned into an infamous riot. It was then that the real estate broker reportedly scaled an "architectural feature" outside of the building and waved other rioters up the steps and into the building.
The former candidate is also accused of pulling a covering off of the structure that had been put in place ahead of President Joe Biden's inauguration. However, Kelley asserted that he had done nothing wrong and that what happened that day was "a First Amendment activity by a majority of those people, myself included," he said at a debate.
His arrest came during the campaign, which further complicated the contentious race. Kelley came in third in the primary that went to conservative commentator Tudor Dixon. He went on to lose to incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the general election.
Still, Kelley maintained that his actions were a legitimate demonstration. "We were there protesting the government because we don’t like the results of the 2020 election, the process of how it happened," Kelley said.
"And we have that First Amendment right. And that’s what 99% of the people were there for that day," Kelley added.
Throughout his campaign and beyond, Kelley was an outspoken opponent of Whitmer and her actions during the COVID-19 pandemic. He claimed at a rally that the virus "was made so that they can use the propaganda to control your minds so that you think, if you watch the media, that Joe Biden won this election" as he continued to assert that former President Donald Trump was the legitimate winner.
"We’re not going to buy it. We’re going to stand and fight for America, for Donald Trump. We’re not going to let the Democrats steal this election," Kelley said.
Although both sides agree that there were parts of Jan. 6 that were horrible, what the left has done to spin it into something more sinister is the real crime. Earlier this year, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson shared never-before-seen footage that demonstrated the left's lies about the nature of the protest and ensuing riot.
Democrats like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi often referred to the incident as "deadly," a Fox News report noted. Their boldest assertion was that Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick died at the hands of rioters.
However, it simply wasn't true, and the Jan. 6 House Select Committee knew it all along based on the footage they had seen. "This tape overturns the single most powerful and politically useful lie that Democrats told us about January 6th," Carlson told his "Tucker Carlson Tonight" viewers as he showed the video to the public for the first time.
"They lied about the police officer they claimed to revere," Carlson added. "If they were willing to do that, then their dishonesty knew no limits."
Kelley should not have been disrespectful to property, nor should he have waved people into the Capitol building. However, those lapses in judgment are nothing compared to the blatant lies the left continues to spin in order to use the incident to their advantage.
