KTLA

Romance novel cover model pleads guilty to assaulting police at Jan. 6 riot

A photo released by the FBI that shows Logan James Barnhart at the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. (FBI)

Logan James Barnhart, 41, of Holt, Michigan, pleaded guilty Thursday to assaulting law enforcement officers during the riot at the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, KTLA sister station WLNS reports.

Barnhart was part of the mob that clashed with law enforcement at the Archway leading into the Capitol from the Lower West Terrace, according to court records. He was joined by other rioters in dragging an officer down steps into a crowd, where others beat the officer with weapons, including a flagpole and baton.


“As a result of this attack, the officer sustained physical injuries, including bruising and abrasions,” reads a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Columbia.

Barnhart also helped to push other rioters in the direction of a line of police officers, and struck one of the officers with the base of a flagpole, the office said.

Barnhart, a bodybuilder and former model for the cover of romance novels, was identified and arrested for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot on August 2021. He was taken into custody on Aug. 17 in Lansing, Michigan

Barnhart is scheduled to be sentenced on March 9, 2023. He faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison, as well as financial penalties.

More than 870 people have been arrested for crimes related to the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, including more than 265 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement officials.