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A Republican candidate for Michigan governor pleaded not guilty to actions during the U.S. Capitol uprising last January 6, when he said he and other supporters of then-President Donald Trump were exercising their free speech rights.
Ryan Kelly appeared at a brief hearing in federal court via video link just weeks after the real estate agent was arrested at his western Michigan home and charged with multiple crimes for his role in the riots.
Kelly said little at the hearing, but during Wednesday night’s debate he said he and others in the Capitol were unhappy with the 2020 presidential election, when Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
“This is the First Amendment activity for most people, myself included,” Kelly said.
“We were there protesting the government because we didn’t like the results of the 2020 election, we didn’t like the process of the election. We have First Amendment rights. That’s why 99 percent of the people were there that day.”
Kelly was charged with vandalism, harming public property and entering a confined space without permission.
Federal investigators said Kelly was recorded on video outside the U.S. Capitol on the day of the riot, waving repeatedly to the crowd and guiding them toward the stairs leading to the building. The FBI said he used his cell phone to “photograph the crowd attacking and pushing US Capitol Police officers away” and climbing the stairs to the crowd at the Capitol entrance after causing the officers to retreat.
Kelly is a little-known candidate vying for the Republican nomination on Aug. 2 with five Republicans who face Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November.
He has said he believes the arrest and the publicity that followed helped raise his profile and gain supporters.
Kelly also questioned the timing of the charges, which were filed about a year and a half after the Congressional insurrection.
He said they were politically motivated and that he was a target of the Biden administration and others on the left.
Kelly decided to run for governor after leading protests against Ms Whitmer and the restrictions she imposed during the coronavirus pandemic. That included a rally at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, where heavily armed militiamen entered the building.
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