New video shows Florida man posing with Pelosi’s lectern during Jan. 6 Capitol riot
It was a viral image of Adam Johnson carrying Nancy Pelosi’s lectern during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot that made him one of the most recognized faces from that day — fame he celebrated in the days that followed.
Videos now released by the U.S. Department of Justice since his conviction and obtained by the Bradenton Herald provide a more detailed look inside the 35 minutes Johnson spent inside the Capitol as he and others attempted to prevent the certification of the presidential election.
The video exhibits are among the evidence used in the case against Johnson, 37 and a stay-at-home father of five.
Like many of the Capitol rioters, Johnson took a plea deal. On June 14, he was released from Colemen Federal Correction Complex in Sumter County after serving 75 days for trespassing or remaining in any restricted building.
Johnson and a friend arrived in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, ahead of the “Stop the Steal” rally in support of then-President Donald Trump. That night he attended a rally downtown where video captured he screaming, “Who’s (expletive) country?”
He posted a photo of himself smiling at that rally on his Facebook account, with the caption “Riot!!!”
The following morning, Johnson and his friend walked from their hotel to the rally. Along the way, Johnson tossed a Kershaw folding knife he had in some bushes near the Canadian Embassy.
The two listened to Trump, Rudy Gulliani and a member of Congress before joining the crowd marching toward the Capitol.
Along the way, Johnson saw several skirmishes between rioters and police, even recording video of one on his phone. After hearing someone scream, “Pence didn’t do it,” he saw police running towards the Capitol as others shouted, “They broke into the Capitol.”
Johnson and his friend began running towards the Capitol.
Police used tear gas and flash bangs in an attempt to breakup the crowd, burning Johnson’s eyes to which he said, “that tear gas was rough.”
Court records show Johnson recorded a video — which he later deleted — of another rioter grabbing a police officer’s baton before climbing the scaffolding and taking another video from the top.
At 2:20 p.m., Johnson breached the building through the Senate wing door.
Johnson entered a Senate wing office after making his way up to the second floor and spotted a sign that said, “Closed to all tours.” He took a photo with the sign and posted it to his Facebook with the caption, “No.”
He then spotted a sign for Pelosi’s office suite and walked down the hallway, jiggling the handle to a door at end that hall which he thought was her office. But the door was locked. After making his way back out, Johnson found Pelosi’s lectern near a staircase.
He carried it out to the House Rotunda, posing for several photos and setting it down. Johnson asked someone to take a photo with his cellphone as he gestured and posed behind the lectern, pretending to give a speech.
Johnson then made his way toward the House Chamber, where several protesters were confronting a line of police officers, and joined the crowd. He moved with them as they pushed past the line and reaching a vestibule that leads to House Chamber.
Others were beating on the door and chanting “stop the steal.”
Johnson shouted that a nearby bust of first U.S. President George Washington would be “a great battering ram.”
Officers in riot gear made their way toward the crowd as white smoke, believed to be from a fire extinguisher, filled the air.
At 2:55 p.m., after asking an officer covered in white soot how to exit, Johnson left the Capitol.
After being quickly identified on social media, Johnson deleted photos and videos from his cellphone as well as deleted his Facebook account.
Instead of taking his flight home, Johnson rented a car and drove back to Manatee County.
But Johnson bragged in texts to family and friends in the days that followed before his arrest, that he was “finally famous.”
This story was originally published July 12, 2022 at 5:45 AM.
