Texas’ top law enforcement official is set to appear alongside a man known as the “Lectern Guy” who served prison time for being among the crowds that broke into the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 to protest President Donald Trump’s election loss.
Lone Star State Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate against his fellow Republican, Sen. John Cornyn, is one of the “special guests” headlining a shooting event hosted by the group Texas Gun Rights (TXGR) on September 13. Another one of the “special guests” is Adam Johnson, who became one of the most recognizable faces of the Jan. 6 riots when he was photographed inside the Capitol grinning and carrying then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern through the halls.
Recent polls show that Paxton and Cornyn, the incumbent, are in a tight race.
Paxton, whose campaign did not respond to a request for comment, has his own history with Trump’s effort to subvert the 2020 election. As attorney general, he filed a Supreme Court lawsuit in December 2020 that sought to overturn the election by invalidating millions of ballots in four battleground states. The suit was subsequently rejected and a disciplinary committee of the State Bar of Texas later filed a lawsuit of its own seeking to sanction Paxton for what it argued was a case based on “misrepresentations and false statements.” Earlier this year, the Texas Supreme Court dismissed that suit.
In addition to playing a role in the legal efforts that were mounted by Trump allies to reverse his loss, Paxton traveled to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6 and participated in at least one of the protests that preceded the storming of the Capitol. On that fateful day, Paxton appeared on stage at a rally where he touted his work to overturn the election.
“We will not quit fighting,” Paxton said. “We’re Texans. We’re Americans. And we’re not quitting.”
While he unabashedly joined the fight against Trump’s loss on Jan. 6, Paxton distanced himself from the violent crowds that stormed the Capitol. In February 2021, when he was questioned about his participation in the day’s events by a state senator, Paxton claimed he and his former wife “left after the speeches.”
“We went and had lunch and people did what they did,” Paxton said.
One of those people was Johnson, who climbed scaffolding and entered the Capitol building. Once inside, he was filmed encouraging the mob to break down the doors to the House chamber.
Johnson chronicled his day on social media, including posting one Facebook photo that he captioned “Riot!!!” Along with his own postings, Johnson ended up in a picture taken by Getty Images’ Win McNamee. The shot, which depicted Johnson waving an