Michigan bodybuilder ‘who was photographed dragging police officer down stairs during Capitol riots’ arrested

Online sleuths worked to identify person who dragged officer down set of stairs, and later found Logan Barnhart has featured on covers of romance novels

File: Logan Barnhart, a bodybuilder from Michigan, was arrested by the FBI for allegedly dragging a police officer down a set of stairs during the Capitol riots (Reuters)

A man has been arrested by the FBI after online sleuths worked to track down the bodybuilder photographed dragging a police officer down a set of stairs during the Capitol riots.

Logan Barnhart, 40, a supporter of former president Donald Trump from Michigan, was named as a potential suspect by internet sleuths as part of a wider online effort to identify those present on the insurrection in Washinton DC on 6 January.

Information on Mr Barnhart was first released by the “Sedition Hunters” community, who suspected him of being an individual seen during the insurrection wearing sunglasses, a US flag cap and a sweatshirt with the logo of the Caterpillar construction equipment company.

This rioter and several others were photographed dragging a police officer down the stairs at the Capitol and beating him with an American flag.

The rioter in the Caterpillar sweatshirt had been dubbed “CatSweat” by online detectives, and was known among the community as a “white whale” – an elusive target about whom there was little information available.

According to Huffington Post, a breakthrough came when video emerged of the individual emerging from the earlier Trump rally on 6 January with the same outfit but without the sunglasses.

The image was uploaded by the sleuths onto a public facial recognition website, a search which returned several images of Mr Barnhart, including those on bodybuilding websites and photography portfolios.

They found Mr Barnhart had also graced the covers of several romance novels, including one with the name Stepbrother UnSEALed: A Bad Boy Military Romance.

Sedition Hunters alleged that Mr Barnhart’s Instagram handle includes a July 2019 photo where he is wearing a flag hat matching the “CatSweat” rioter’s. And an August 2020 video was also found where Mr Barnhart appears to be wearing the Caterpillar sweatshirt in question.

On his handle, Mr Barnhart had shared right-wing material, including misinformation on Covid and rants about the Black Lives Matter movement, according to HuffPost. The handle has now been set to private.

Mr Barnhart appeared in court on Tuesday in Michigan, where he was given an attorney and sent to house arrest with an unsecured $5,000 bail bond.

Several others suspected to be involved in the assault of the DC Metropolitan Police Department officer have already been arrested.

Jack Wade Whitton, accused of being seen in the photographs next to Mr Barnhart with his hand on the officer’s neck, Ronald McAbee, Jeffrey Sabol, Peter Stager, Michael Lopatic and Clayton Mullins have been named as suspects and were already arrested and named in the indictment.

Mr Whitton and Mr Sabol allegedly dragged the officer into the crowd and beat him with an American flag pole.

Mr Barnhart has been added to a 22-count indictment that named the above seven suspects, reported Business Insider. He faces multiple charges, including assaulting federal officers with a dangerous weapon, according to the FBI.