FBI arrests Michigan gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley during raid of Allendale home

Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley speaks during a protest outside of the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing demanding a forensic audit on Feb. 8, 2022.

LANSING — The FBI raided the Allendale home of Michigan gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley on Thursday and arrested him, a spokeswoman confirmed.

Special Agent Mara Schneider, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Detroit, confirmed that federal agents used a search warrant.

She did not immediately disclose any details of the investigation.

Outside the home of Michigan gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley after the FBI raided the home and arrested Kelley on Thursday, June 9, 2022 in Allendale, Michigan.

Kelley, who sells real estate, was at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. when protestors rioted and illegally entered the building on Jan. 6, 2021, though he never confirmed he went inside and has denied doing anything illegal.

He is one of five Republican candidates on the August primary ballot for governor, after five other candidates were disqualified.

“Just days after their field was cut in half due to corruption and mass fraud, Republican gubernatorial candidates’ callous disregard for the principles of democracy was on full display again today,” said Lavora Barnes, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party.

A Kelley campaign spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Kelley’s only experience in government came in Allendale, where he was an appointed member of the township’s planning commission, starting in Dec.2019. He is no longer a planning commission member, according to the township’s website.

In June 2021, the Michigan Democratic Party shared a video of Kelley outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 of that year. In the video, Kelley appears to shout: “Come on, let’s go! This is it! This is — this is war, baby!”

Kelley’s involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot had prompted some Allendale residents to call for his removal during township board meetings in Jan. 2021. Kelley had also clashed with Black Lives Matter protesters in Allendale in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020.

Kelley also drew ire from residents for his defense of a controversial statue in the township’s Garden of Honor depicting a Confederate soldier as part of its Civil War memorial. Kelley organized multiple rallies around the statue, at one point garnering criticism for inviting William Null, one of the suspects facing felony charges in Antrim County’s 86th District Court for his role in the alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in Oct. 2020.

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Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.  Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter. 

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: FBI arrests Ryan Kelley, GOP candidate for Michigan governor