Tampa Bay right-wing influencer arrested in Jan. 6 riots
A right-wing social influencer who lives in Palm Harbor and has 211,000 followers on Instagram was arrested Wednesday on charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Michael Hennessey, 38, is facing felony and misdemeanor charges in connection with the riots. Federal prosecutors say he spent nearly an hour inside the U.S. Capitol and at various times was in the House majority leader’s office and fought with Capitol police.
Hennessey is behind an Instagram meme account called Snowflake News, which was still active as of late April. He was one of several right-wing influencers featured in a 2022 Tampa Bay Times story about their connections to Florida.
The Snowflake News account was named a top “repeat spreader” of misinformation related to the 2020 election in a report authored by Stanford and University of Washington academics in partnership with a social media analysis company and a disinformation research group.
Hennessey told the Tampa Bay Times then that the report was a badge of honor.
“Nice!” Hennessey said when a reporter told him about the report. “If they’re putting their false information about me out there … then I’m stepping on somebody’s toes who’s doing something they shouldn’t be.”
Federal prosecutors say Hennessey was among the first group of rioters to climb stairs from the West Plaza to the Capitol’s Upper West Terrace on the day of the riots. He went into the Senate Wing door at 2:15 that afternoon, which was two minutes after the first breach of the Capitol was made through that entrance. Once inside, he joined others in chanting “Our House,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
He also joined an effort to push up against Capitol police and overpower officers, then wound up in the House majority leader’s office and later was at the forefront of a group making its way to the Senate Chamber. Police stopped the mob, but an officer fell down a set of stairs during the melee, prosecutors said.
Hennessey is charged with a felony count of civil disorder and misdemeanor counts of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a Capitol building or grounds; and parading, picketing or demonstrating in a Capitol building.
In the 39 months since Jan. 6, 2021, nearly 1,400 people have been charged in connection with the riots.
Times staff writer Emily L. Mahoney contributed to this report.
