Notorious rioter who carried away Nancy Pelosi’s lectern during Capitol siege arrested in Florida

The man who went viral across the world for cheerily making off with Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern during the riot at the US Capitol Building has been arrested by police in Florida.

Adam Johnson was apprehended by police in the Sunshine State on Friday night after his stunt during the protest in the US Congress building on Wednesday went viral across the globe. 

Florida authorities say the 36-year-old from the small community of Parrish is allegedly the man seen in the famous photograph carrying Pelosi’s lectern through the halls as chaos reigns in the building. 

It follows the arrest of multiple protesters involved in the breach, including Richard Barnett, who was pictured casually sitting at a desk in Pelosi’s office during the riot.

Arrest records show that Johnson was picked up by federal marshals and is being held in Pinellas County Jail pending charges. Johnson’s mugshot indicated that he had a shave following his antics, as he was sporting a beard when captured on camera carrying the lectern.

The image of Johnson quickly went viral during Wednesday’s demonstration, spawning thousands of memes about all manner of subjects in countries across the world. He was quickly identified on social media and the FBI had been searching for him.

Posts on his now-deleted social media page showed him inside the Capitol during the riot. The status of the lectern is not immediately known.

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