Jan 6. Capitol riot ‘Lectern Guy’ sues Manatee County officials over wetlands lawsuit
Adam Johnson, the Parrish man known for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, has filed a lawsuit against Manatee County commissioners over their choice not to seek over $250,000 in legal fees.
Former Commissioner Joe McClash faced paying some or all of the legal bill after his challenge to the board’s rollback of local wetland protections was unsuccessful. The protections, which had been on the books for decades in Manatee County to shield sensitive environmental areas from development, required buffers of 30 to 50 feet between wetlands and new buildings.
But after the August primary election changed the makeup of the board, commissioners voted to drop the case against McClash. In doing so, they opted not to make use of a new Florida law that allows governments and home builders to recoup attorney fees from citizens who challenge developer-friendly rule changes.
But Johnson’s lawsuit accuses commissioners of corruption and claims they “destroyed a financial asset” and hurt residents by not seeking the legal fees. The lawsuit also argues that McClash used his news outlet, the Bradenton Times, to promote primary election candidates who he believed would relieve him of the legal fees if elected.
Johnson is suing all six commissioners who voted to dismiss the legal fees: Carol Ann Felts, Jason Bearden, Bob McCann, Amanda Ballard, George Kruse and Tal Siddique. Commissioner Mike Rahn, the lone dissenting vote, is not named as a defendant.
The lawsuit asks a judge to make the board revoke its decision and seek fees from McClash.
Reached by phone, Johnson declined to comment on the lawsuit but sent a written statement via email.
“Commissioners Kruse, Siddique, Felts, and McCann all received an endorsement from online publisher Joe McClash and in return, they destroyed a public asset that solely benefited Mr. McClash. Best case, it’s just bad optics, but in my opinion, it’s corrupt political payback at the taxpayers’ expense,” Johnson’s statement said.
Several commissioners had not yet learned of the lawsuit when reached for comment. Ballard, Siddique and Felts declined to comment, and the other commissioners named in the lawsuit could not immediately be reached Tuesday afternoon.
Reached for comment, McClash also said he had no comment and had not yet reviewed the lawsuit.
Lawsuit tied to county’s wetland protection rollback
In October 2023, Manatee County commissioners voted 5-1 to eliminate local wetland protections, a move suggested by a developer interest group and opposed by environmental advocates and hundreds of residents.
After that vote, McClash filed an administrative challenge to the rule change, arguing that the county had not fulfilled the requirements of its own Comprehensive Plan by showing that the change was in the public interest.
But the judge in the case interpreted a controversial new Florida law to mean that McClash could be held responsible for paying the county’s attorney fees, even if his challenge resulted in the county reversing part or all of its decision.
McClash moved to dismiss the case and avoid the fees. But the county attorney’s office argued that a dismissal made the county the prevailing party, and the judge agreed. The county sought over $246,000 in attorney fees and $10,000 in taxable costs against McClash, an unusually high legal bill that resulted from a large team of outside lawyers brought in for the case.
But before the judge weighed in on what portion of the amount McClash had to pay, the August primary election changed the county commission’s position on the case.
After three new commissioners were voted in, the board voted 6-1 in November not to seek the legal fees from McClash.
The new board has also begun the process of restoring the wetland protections to the Comprehensive Plan.
Lawsuit claims county leaders ‘destroyed financial asset’
Johnson’s lawsuit claims that the commissioners who voted to dismiss McClash’s legal fees “corruptly used their official position to secure a privilege, benefit or exemption for a private individual, Joseph McClash.”
“By ordering that McClash be relieved of repaying even a fraction of the costs he himself forced the County to incur due to his lawsuit, (the) commissioner defendants squandered a significant amount of taxpayer resources, and, in effect, destroyed a financial asset of the county.”
The Bradenton Herald previously reported on court records that revealed how the bill became so expensive. The county had at least 10 people working on the case against McClash, with hourly rates that ranged from $75 to $375. Seven of those hourly rates were $300 or more.
The statute used by the county to seek attorney fees has been criticized by open government advocates and environmental groups for its potential to stifle citizen challenges to unpopular decisions of local government.
But Johnson’s lawsuit argues that the county should have collected whatever money it could.
Johnson is using the same law firm and lawyer, Robert “Alex” Andrade, who is representing former Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge in his lawsuits against McClash’s Bradenton Times and local political group Take Back Manatee. Andrade is also an elected Republican official, serving as State Representative for Florida House District 2, which includes Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.
Who is Adam Johnson?
Johnson, widely known as the “lectern guy” or “podium guy,” became one of the most recognizable figures from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol after a viral photo showed him smiling and waving while carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern.
Prosecutors said Johnson entered the Capitol through the Senate wing door, wandered the building for several minutes and attempted to open Pelosi’s office door before taking the lectern out to the House Rotunda, where he posed for photos before leaving it behind.
Manatee County residents identified Johnson after the photo circulated on social media, leading to FBI tips and his eventual arrest. He was later sentenced to 75 days in federal prison, followed by a year of probation and 200 hours of community service, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.
In January, Johnson was one of several locals granted a presidential pardon for their role in the Capitol riot. He quickly took to social media to celebrate the clemency, posting, “Got a pardon... now... about my lectern,” a reference to the viral image of him carrying Pelosi’s lectern during the attack. The post received more than 43,000 likes as Johnson appeared to joke about his conviction and the high-profile nature of his case.
Johnson has embraced the notoriety he gained after Jan. 6, appearing at political events, on conservative talk shows and regularly posting on social media platform X as “The Lectern Guy” to over 100,000 followers.
In court, Johnson claimed to be remorseful of his actions on Jan. 6, but his public statements have undermined his words under oath.
“As for the remorse part? I’ve felt more guilt about leaving the toilet seat up at the airport than I do about J6,” Johnson posted on X in 2023.
This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 5:50 AM.
