Logan Barnhart of Lansing was arrested Tuesday in connection with the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Barnhart is the 12th Michigan resident who's been arrested in connection with that event.
Barnhart has been charged with six counts: assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon and aiding and abetting, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, and violent entry, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds.
He will be tried in federal court in Washington, D.C., after first appearing in district court in Grand Rapids Tuesday afternoon. He was released on a $5,000 unsecured bond and is restricted to his residence.
State representative and House Minority Leader Donna Lasinski (D-Scio Township) has pushed for the Michigan legislature to formally investigate Michigan's role in the events of January 6. She says Barnhart's recent arrest only further demonstrates the need for that investigation to happen.
"If we don’t have that understanding, our state will be able to be used over and over in anti-democratic measures, in measures that work to undermine the democracy not just of our state, but of our nation," she said.
In particular, Lasinski wants to look at the role elected officials in Michigan played in spreading misinformation and using inflammatory language.
"We need to understand how the language of... elected leadership and community leaders in perpetuating lies and bogus conspiracy theories that incite and instigate behavior that is unpatriotic, that led to an insurrection, and that looked to topple our peaceful transfer of power, a core tenant of our democracy," she said.
Barnhart was given a federal public defender. That attorney, James Fisher, declined to comment on the case.
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