LANSING, Mich. — Logan James Barnhart, who was arrested Tuesday on charges related to the Jan. 6 riots in Washington, D.C., was previously charged with inciting a riot when we was just 18 years old.
Barnhart was one of hundreds of individuals the United States Department of Justice has been working to identify and locate by sharing videos and photos on social media.
Groups like SeditionHunters have been spearheading open-source information gathering to assist in pinning down those involved with the riots. They were using the name #CatSweat to refer to Barnhart in photos and videos before they discovered his actual name, as Barnhart is seen in media from the day wearing a Caterpillar Inc. hooded sweatshirt.
FOX 17 found video from a Metropolitan Police officer's body cam that shows a man who appears to be Barnhart dragging an officer down a set of stairs before bystanders start assaulting them.
In the federal court documents unsealed this week, it is alleged that Barnhart and others were "using a deadly or dangerous weapon, that is, a baton, flag pole, and crutch, did forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impeded, intimidate, and interfere with, an officer and employee of the United States."
He was arrested in Lansing on Tuesday, and is facing six charges, several of which are felonies:
- Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers Using a Dangerous Weapon and Aiding and Abetting
- Civil Disorder
- 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
- Violent Entry and Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building or Ground
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Believe it or not, this is not the first time that Barnahrt has been in trouble with the law for being involved with a riot.
He was arrested on one count of inciting a riot in March 1998 near Michigan State University after, according to a Lansing Journal report at the time, about 10,000 people rioted following a basketball game.
“A good judge would look at this and say, 'Wait a minute, you've done this before, this same type of conduct, and now you're involved in it on a larger scale. I cannot be as lenient with you as those who can claim that they got caught up in something that was happening,'” said Jeffrey D. Swarz, a former judge, and tenured professor of law at WMU Cooley Law School.
“Those would go into his sentencing-guidelines range because they are prior conduct that will be scored.”
That early arrest happening while Barnhart was a star running back on Haslett High School's football team.
One article in the Journal from October 1998 read, "the running back scored two touchdowns in the biggest game in Haslett High School history. He was a small-town celebrity bringing 7,000 fans to their feet Oct. 9 as the Vikings beat Fowlerville 14-0 to take command in the Ingham County League."
A player profile from a December 1998 report said he rushed for 2,016 yards and scored 29 touchdowns for the season.
In more recent years, Barnhart has worked as a bodybuilder and amateur model.
In August of 2010 he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of brandishing a firearm in public, but has no other apparent criminal cases on his record.
Barnhart's case will eventually be transferred to Washington, D.C. to proceed.
The first person to be sentenced in connection with the Jan. 6 riots, Paul Allard Hodgkins, only received eight months behind bars for similar charges.
Swarz said Wednesday, “I thought the first gentleman who was from Florida, who got eight months for what he did, I thought that that was judicial malpractice. I think that they needed to send a message that this type of behavior will be punished to the maximum allowable.”
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