Logan Barnhart, a former romance novel cover model and bodybuilder, was sentenced to 3 years in prison Thursday for dragging a police officer down the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building on his face into a crowd of January 6 rioters. In September 2022, he pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon.
🚨🚨🚨Three years in federal prison for Logan Barnhart, the Trump-loving romance novel cover model who dragged a cop down the stairs of the U.S. Capitol face-first on Jan. 6. https://t.co/XB4uAjw4I6
— follow @ryanjreilly on bluesky, signal in bio (@ryanjreilly) April 13, 2023
In their sentencing memo, Justice Department prosecutors detailed Barnhart’s actions during the riot writing:
“During the course of this attack, Barnhart grabbed an officer’s neck and torso and dragged him in a prone position from the police line, out of the Archway, and down a set of stairs into the violent mob, where the officer was further attacked with weapons, including a flagpole and a baton, and sustained physical injuries. Minutes later, Barnhart returned to the police line in the Archway where other rioters were assaulting the line of officers by slamming riot shields into them, striking them, and throwing objects at them. Barnhart joined these rioters in charging against the police line. Barnhart then approached the line of officers wielding a flagpole and used it to strike the officers.”
Barnhart will also face an additional 36 months of supervised release after his prison sentence, plus $2,000 restitution and $3,688 fine.
It seems riots weren’t a new thing for the former romance novel model. As a teenager, Barnhart was prosecuted for rioting in his home state of Michigan.
Barnhart was arrested in August 2021 after online sleuths known as the “Sedition Hunters” tracked the 42-year-old down using facial recognition software. They’d nicknamed him #CatSweat because he’d worn a Caterpillar sweatshirt at the violent invasion. The sweatshirt led to a clear face pic snapped during the “Stop the Steal” rally before the riots, and that led to his (since-deleted) thirsty Instagram account.
Long-awaited news: #CatSweat is arrested! He's Logan Barnhardt, bodybuilder from MI. One of the key attackers at the tunnel when Officer Miller was dragged. ID was fast once #SeditionHunters found his clear face shot, likely by many (including the great @rocketman2001). 1/ pic.twitter.com/X0jDSZVd2F
— capitolhunters (@capitolhunters) August 17, 2021
Here’s how the ID happened: pic.twitter.com/vaAXHXAhFq
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) April 13, 2023
Barnhart now says he’s sorry for dragging U.S. Capitol Police Officer Morris Moore down those stairs. In an apology letter to Moore, he offered his “deepest and most sincere apology” and said he’d gone through “depression, stress and anxiety” as a result of his actions that day.
You can see several of his romance novel covers in the tweet below as well as an interview with the soon-to-be inmate conducted right after his sentencing.
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
Logan Barnhart, please enjoy the “Find Out” portion of your adventure. And may all the activities you’ll be enjoying serve as your new fitness regimen.
— MJM (@sfmjm) April 13, 2023
Spoke with Logan Barnhart AKA #Catsweat after he was sentenced to three years in federal prison for dragging a cop down the steps of the Captiol face-first on Jan. 6. Video by @GaryGrumbach: pic.twitter.com/Khch8ktveS
— follow @ryanjreilly on bluesky, signal in bio (@ryanjreilly) April 13, 2023
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