Manatee County man possibly photographed carrying House speaker's lectern from Capitol
BRADENTON, Fla. - A Manatee County man is featured in one of the more viral images from the failed insurrection attempt in Washington, D.C., acquaintances of the man said Thursday.
The Getty photograph, taken by Win McNamee, quickly circulated on social media and shows a man carrying the Speaker of House's lectern through the halls of the Capitol Building.
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: A pro-Trump protester carries the lectern of U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi through the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building after a pro-Trump mob stormed the building on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congre
Alex Noon said she immediately recognized that man as someone with whom she used to regularly attend church and she Tweeted about him, hoping to help authorities track him down.
"I instantly recognized him, so it's kind of like, 'what are the odds?'" Noon told FOX 13. "I just wanted to make sure people knew who he was so that he could be held accountable."
Investigators said they've noticed several attempts to identify that man. The Manatee County Sheriff's Office has been sharing with D.C. authorities social media posts identifying him as Adam Johnson of Parrish.
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Johnson also appeared to document his trip to the nation's capital, posting photos on Facebook before his account was shut down.
"I don't care where they're from, that is intolerable. We shouldn't stand for it," said Republican State Senator Jim Boyd of Manatee County. "I'm sad that it's perhaps somebody from our community that would be there, but there's nothing right about what they did."
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Boyd said he hadn't heard about the local connection until a FOX 13 reporter asked him for a comment Thursday.
"I'm sad if it is one of ours, but definitely they don't act like us in Manatee County," he said.
FOX 13 went to Johnson's house; the numbers had been peeled off the mailbox and no one at the home would comment. His wife is a doctor in Palmetto and no one at her office would comment.
Meanwhile, at least six Floridians are facing charges connected to the unrest, including a man from Riverview.
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Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren said his office is ready to help investigate potential suspects from the Tampa Bay Area.
"The extremism we saw yesterday has no place in our country," Warren said, adding investigators will be spending a long time trying to identify as many people as possible connected to the riots. "At this point, police and investigators in Washington D.C. should be combing through videos to identify the people who are actually responsible for the crimes."
Warren explained his office would likely not be involved in filing charges unless the planning of insurrection took place in the Hillsborough County area.
"We saw crimes as serious as terrorism for people who were putting the pipe bombs down in different places," he added. "There was the crime of sedition. That's where you are forcefully disrupting the functions of government."
Warren said there could also be a number of potential trespassing charges, but he believes investigators will be more focused on the serious crimes.