Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 36
- Location
- Bradenton, Florida
- Charges
- Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building
- Case status
- Pleaded guilty; Sentenced
- Presidential action
- Pardon
Case Summary
Adam Johnson, prosecutors allege, is the man whom a photographer captured widely smiling and waving while carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern. He became known on social media as "podium guy." A person who knew Johnson through a mutual friend allegedly identified Johnson to the FBI after seeing his photo. The day after the riots, Capitol staff found the lectern in a corridor inside the Capitol building. One of Johnson's attorneys, Dan Eckhart, told reporters that the photo of Johnson carrying the lectern presents a serious problem for his client's defense. "I don’t know how else to explain that, but, yeah, that would be a problem,” Eckhart said. “I'm not a magician."
Case History
Johnson pleaded Guilty to the charge. Sentenced 2/25/2022 to 75 days of incarceration with credit for time served; Supervised Release for a period of 1 year; special assessment of $25; restitution of $500; fine of $5,000; 200 hours of community service. Johnson received a full pardon on January 20, 2025
Sources
- Primary Documentation
NPR Jan. 6 Defendant DatabaseNPR - Primary Documentation
Underlying court recordCourt record linked by NPR - Supporting Reporting
NPR video evidence pageNPR
Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.