Romance novel model accused of dragging police officer in Jan 6 attack pleads guilty

A Michigan man, who appeared on the cover of romance novels, has pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement agents with a dangerous weapon during riots at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.

Logan James Barnhart, 41, of Holt, Michigan, was part of the mob that broke into the archway leading into the Capitol building from the lower west terrace where a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer was being attacked with a baton by a co-rioter.

He is accused of grabbing the neck of the officer’s ballistic vest and then dragging the officer down the steps in the prone position, taking him into the crowd where he was assaulted by other rioters with weapons, including a flagpole and a baton, according to the US attorney’s office.

The officer sustained physical injuries, including bruising and abrasions, following the attack.

Mr Barnhart, who is also a construction worker, was arrested on 17 August last year in Lansing and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison along with fines.

Appearing before US district judge Emmet G Sullivan, Mr Barnhart pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting or impeding officers.

“Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?” Judge Sullivan asked him in the virtual hearing.

“Yes, sir,” he responded from his car, adding that everything in the agreed-upon statement of offense was “100% true”.

According to a Justice Department indictment, he also arrived where rioters were slamming riot shields into the line of police officers.

He supported other rioters and propelled them forward into the line of officers and struck at officers with the base of a flagpole.

He was initially charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers with a dangerous weapon but he was included in a superseding indictment along with eight other men.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on 23 March 2023.

He appeared on the covers of novels “Lighter” and “Stepbrother UnSEALed: A Bad Boy Military Romance”.

More than 870 people have been arrested in the 20-months-long investigation since the riots from across 50 states for breaching the US Capitol. Among those arrested, over 265 people have been charged with committing crimes.