Ryan Kelley, a candidate for governor of Michigan, was charged on Jan. 6 for his role. According to the Justice Department, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley was detained on Thursday morning on misdemeanour charges connected to his role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol disturbance.

According to Bill Miller, a spokesperson for the US attorney’s office in the District of Columbia, Kelley, 40, of Allendale, Michigan, was detained in Allendale on charges “arising from the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol breach.”
After making his initial appearance in federal court in Michigan on Thursday, Kelley was freed on bail. According to local media on the scene, he embraced his fans outside the courthouse following his release, giving thumbs up and embraces.

Hearing Kelley’s arrest was verified by the FBI field office in Detroit, which stated his residence had been searched on Thursday morning.
“I can confirm that FBI investigators from the Grand Rapids office arrested Mr. Kelley and searched his home in Allendale, Michigan. In a written statement, Mara Schneider, a public affairs officer requirements with the FBI’s Detroit office, stated, “At this time, I cannot offer any details on the nature of the allegations against Mr. Kelley,” adding that she expected further information to be “forthcoming.””
According to his website, Kelley, a real estate dealer, began spearheading demonstrations against Covid-19 lockdowns and requirements in Michigan in 2020. He claimed to have organised anti-Covid protests in the state Capitol in Lansing and in Grand Rapids.

During demonstrations in the summer of 2020, the gubernatorial candidate stated that he “guarded a Civil War Statue in his hometown of Allendale.”
In what will be one of the most carefully watched contests in the country this fall, a big field of Republicans is vying to take on Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Kelley’s arrest adds a new wrinkle to an already tumultuous Republican primary battle. It comes after the Michigan Court of Appeals denied two Republican governor candidates’ attempts to have their names placed on the August primary ballot earlier this month.

After Michigan’s board of canvassers deadlocked last month, the candidates, businessman Perry Johnson and financial adviser Michael Markey, filed lawsuits, leaving in place a decision by the state’s bureau of elections that five gubernatorial candidates did not have enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.
The court’s majority verdicts were a severe defeat for the candidates who had launched legal challenges in an attempt to resurrect their campaigns, including former Detroit Police Chief James Craig. Kelley was not one of the candidates whose signatures were tampered with.
The signature problem has thrown the governor’s race in Michigan into disarray only two months before the August primary.