Sen. John Fetterman had 'zero clue' that he took a photo with a Jan. 6 rioter, his office says

Fallon Roth, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Jan 21, 2025

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Sen. John Fetterman inadvertently took a photo Monday with the rioter who grabbed then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern and posed with it during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The photo came the same day President Donald Trump took the oath of office and hours before Trump issued an unconditional pardon to most participants in the Capitol riot — along with 14 commutations for other offenders, including Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes.

In a post on X Monday, Adam Johnson — who refers to himself as “The Lectern Guy” on social media — posted a photo with Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who has been more open to working with Trump than some in his party, at a Starbucks with the caption “Just two dudes living their redemption arcs out.”

In the photo Fetterman is wearing his classic sweatshirt and shorts ensemble while giving two thumbs up. A spokesperson for the senator said the Democrat had “zero clue” who the individual was.

“He took several dozens of photos with people yesterday,” the spokesperson said.

Washington and the U.S. Capitol were filled with people who had traveled for Trump’s inauguration. Some Jan. 6 defendants, including a South Jersey man, were granted permission by the courts to travel to D.C. to attend. However, once the ceremony was moved indoors, only certain individuals were able to get a firsthand look at Trump’s swearing-in.

Johnson’s photo was posted ahead of Trump signing the pardons, eliminating criminal cases for “approximately 1,500 people.”

Johnson said he was one of the individuals pardoned for his actions that day, according to his X profile. Johnson was sentenced in February 2022 to serve more than two months in prison followed by one year of supervised release, NPR reported. The image of Johnson smiling and waving as he held the podium on Jan. 6, 2021, went viral. Prosecutors say he placed the podium in the center of the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, posed for photos, and pretended to make a speech at it.

Like many of his colleagues in the U.S. House and Senate, Fetterman has lambasted Trump’s and his allies’ efforts to subvert and sow doubt in the 2020 presidential election. The senator had not issued a statement on Trump’s pardons as of Tuesday morning.

The Democrat has expressed a rare openness to working with Republicans and the second Trump administration. He has met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, held meetings with many of Trump’s cabinet nominees, and was one of the lone Democratic cosponsors for the controversial Laken Riley Act, aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration, before it attracted more support from the party.

Fetterman’s only posts on his personal or professional X accounts Monday touted his affirmative vote on the Laken Riley Act and congratulated Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Fetterman’s former Senate colleague, on his confirmation.

It’s because of his continued outreach and collaboration with Republicans that Fetterman had to shoot down rumors of him switching parties.

“It’s not going to happen,” Fetterman told Semafor on Monday night. “And even if I wanted to do that, that is a rocket sled to Palookaville to try to switch. I would make a pretty bad Republican.”