A Michigan man who has modeled for the covers of several romance novels was arrested for his involvement in the Capitol riot of January 6 thanks to his hilariously Zoolander-esque Instagram thirst traps.
Logan Barnhart, a self-described "pipe layer" (lol) and bodybuilder from Lansing, Michigan was arrested yesterday by the FBI on suspicion he helped beat a police officer during the riot.
Barnhart was identified by internet sleuths using facial recognition software.
This led them to several of Barnhart's extremely thirsty Instagram and Facebook posts, like the one below.
Or this hilariously on-the-nose one we cannot believe is real.
Earlier this year he was working out at a very appropriately named gym. pic.twitter.com/Q8wiWHQbmv
— Michigan Tea (@MichiganTea) August 17, 2021
The online sleuth community Sedition Hunters dubbed Barnhart "Cat Sweat" because of the sweatshirt he wore to the insurrection, which featured the logo for Caterpillar, the heavy equipment manufacturer.
In addition to bodybuilding and "pipe laying," Barnhart has also worked as a machine operator for his father's construction company.
But his most, shall we say eyebrow-raising job is modeling on the covers of romance novels, like the evocatively named Stepbrother UnSEALed: A Bad Boy Military Romance in which—as you might guess from the title—the main character sleeps with his stepsister.
Logan Barnhart of Michigan #catsweat has graced the cover of AT LEAST three romance novels. pic.twitter.com/j2htXPWq8e
— Michigan Tea (@MichiganTea) August 17, 2021
Sedition Hunters, a group of private citizens who've been working to identify insurrectionists from the mountain of footage and images from January 6, had been trying to identify the man they called Cat Sweat for quite some time.
Finally, they found an image of Cat Sweat without sunglasses on, and before long they were sifting through myriad photos of a barely clothed Barnhart on bodybuilding sites, online portfolios and, of course, romance novels about incest and whatnot.
But while the circumstances are hilarious, the crux of Barnhart's story is anything but. The FBI believes he is the man seen in footage from January 6 wearing a Caterpillar branded sweatshirt helping to drag a D.C. Metropolitan Police officer down a staircase, where he was then beaten with an American flag on a pole by another suspect, Peter Stager.
On Twitter, people applauded the apprehension of this thirst-trap domestic terrorist.
Karma: in prison he will be looking for black reassurance that his life matters— \ud83c\udfa5_\ud83c\udfac (@\ud83c\udfa5_\ud83c\udfac) 1629210189
Another one down!\n"We put the trash out every week." - dance legend Abby Lee Miller.— Psaki Swim Team Equipment Mgr (@Psaki Swim Team Equipment Mgr) 1629208236
Lock him up and throw away the key! Good riddance!— PacoCalder\u00f3nCartones (@PacoCalder\u00f3nCartones) 1629210326
This guy got ID'd because he wears the same stupid dirty nasty outfit every day to everything. Serves him right.https://twitter.com/HuffPost/status/1427635145511636992\u00a0\u2026— Truly Yours, CJ (@Truly Yours, CJ) 1629211800
I'd love to see him perp walked.— Lab Rats, Anon (@Lab Rats, Anon) 1629211390
We thought that #CatSweat looked pretty full of himself, and Logan did have an active social media profile, as you might expect for an aspiring model (surprising how many are at the Capitol). Calls himself "knuckle sandwich" - better worry about that pretty face in prison. 2/pic.twitter.com/CTquGOx1yl— capitolhunters (@capitolhunters) 1629212355
"...and cheap romance novels."\n\nCan't wait till your cell mate hears about that one.— Nick Runyeard (@Nick Runyeard) 1629266844
A Capitol rioter was caught on video beating a Capitol policeman, but it\u2019s not the first time he\u2019s been on camera, because he\u2019s also appeared shirtless on the cover of romance novels. It reminds us of when the Shah was overthrown by Fabio. #LSSCpic.twitter.com/7D58cm8Fca— The Late Show (@The Late Show) 1629344985
When Fabio breaks bad.\n\nhttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/logan-barnhart-trump-capitol-attack-fbi-arrest_n_6086e1b3e4b02e74d21d4a28\u00a0\u2026\n\n"Instagram Posts Help FBI Nab Trump-Loving \nRomance Novel Model Who Beat Capitol Cops"— Mark Pitcavage (@Mark Pitcavage) 1629296654
Barnhart appeared in court in Michigan on Tuesday, where he was assigned a court-appointed attorney and released on house arrest and $5000 bond.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram