Capitol Lectern Thief Is A Florida Man

Trump fan beamed as he fled with looted item

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1/9/21 UPDATE: FBI arrests lectern thief

JANUARY 7--The Trump supporter who was photographed yesterday waltzing through the Capitol Rotunda carrying a lectern looted from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office is, of course, a Florida Man.

The thief--for whom federal charges surely await--is Adam Christian Johnson, a 36-year-old from Parrish, a community about 40 miles south of Tampa.

Wearing a Trump ski hat, a beaming Johnson was photographed waving as he fled with a wooden lectern carrying the Speaker’s seal.

Johnson, a Tennessee native, is married to a doctor and lives in Harrison Ranch, a developed community. The couple purchased their six-bedroom residence for $396,140 in 2016, according to property records. Johnson’s prior marriage ended in divorce in 2011.

Johnson’s rap sheet includes marijuana possession arrests in 2003 and 2004, and a probation violation bust. At the time of those collars, Johnson (seen at right in a 2003 booking photo) was listed in court records as working as a server at a restaurant in Bradenton.

Johnson is registered to vote--without a party affiliation--from his Parrish residence, according to state records.

After his photo began circulating yesterday, Johnson appears to have deleted his Facebook page, which indicated that he had studied psychology at the University of South Florida.

In a statement today, Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said that federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents “have been working throughout the night” to “gather the evidence, identify perpetrators, and charge federal crimes where warranted.” He added that some participants in the Capitol insurrection would be charged today, while investigators will “make arrests in the coming days and weeks to ensure that those responsible are held accountable under the law.”