Great Lakes Wire

Ryan Kelley is a conservative. Kelley’s politics lean hard to the right. He supports President Donald Trump, admires the U.S. Constitution and owns guns. And he’s not apologizing for any of it.

Kelley, a 38-year-old real estate broker from Allendale, also is married, the father of five, a soccer coach and a member of the Allendale Township Planning Commission.

What he is not is a racist, a terrorist or a member of any organization that advocates illegal or unlawful actions in the name of their politics. Kelley told Great Lakes Wire. And he wants to make that clear.

Ryan D. Kelley | Submitted

He is the founder of the American Patriot Council and has spoken at rallies that protest state restrictions linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. When 14 men were arrested on state and federal charges over an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, some critics have tried to link Kelley to those men.

“There’s a couple noisy people who tie me into that stuff,” he said. “But the majority of intelligent people know that is not me. They’re making false accusations. It’s grossly inaccurate I had anything to do with that or would have anything to do with that.”

His critics have asked he be removed from the planning board. The Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists and Justice for Black Lives will stage a rally in Allendale on Saturday at the same time the American Patriot Council will host one of 52 Nationwide Freedom Marches. Kelley has become a media figure and he said some of the criticisms said about him are false.

Despite the accusations and the public attention, Kelley said he doesn’t plan to stop advocating for issues he cares about or to end his involvement in the APC.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “I know I stand on the truth. I do things legally and lawfully. I’m a law and order guy. I stand on Constitution.”

Kelley was born in West Virginia but his family moved to Michigan when he was 5 and he has lived there ever since. He has worked, built a career and a reputation and formed a family. Always politically conservative, he has grown more active in recent years, having a photo taken with President-elect Trump in 2016 and raising money for candidates in 2018.

Kelley said his politics are ”more Republican” than anything else but he is not sure which party he is registered under. He did so years ago. While he supports Trump, he sees other GOP officials and candidates who don’t uphold his core beliefs.

“I’m not sure what the Republican Party even stands for these days,” Kelley said. “I see a lot of Republicans that don’t do anything. They haven’t stood up to our governor. They don’t do anything.”

This year, the APC became involved in protests against COVID-19 restrictions. Kelley said they violated the state Constitution and he organized and spoke at rallies in Lansing and Grand Rapids that called for the governor or the Michigan Legislature to remove them. He thinks the shutdowns and other government actions linked to the pandemic have been overstated.

“I believe COVID-19 is a virus and people have died from it. I also believe it is dramatically blown out of proper option by the media and many of the people in office,” Kelley said. “What the truth is, I search for that, because I think it falls somewhere in the middle. Mostly, COVID-19 is a media propaganda story to make it look even worse it is.”

He said people have been “bamboozled” by media reports, since state data shows the majority of deaths come from nursing homes and those older than 75. While increased testing has revealed more cases, he said the death rate has not increased dramatically, nor are more people being hospitalized.

“We are testing now, of course when you test more, you are going to have more cases,” Kelley said.

He listens to people like Dr. Simone Gold, who says facemasks do little to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Kelley also notes that suicides have spiked during the pandemic and other societal problems are being underreported.

“Show us the data,” he said.

Although some of his beliefs are out of the mainstream, his opposition to state restrictions was eventually upheld. On Oct. 2, the Michigan Supreme Court, by a 4-3 vote, ruled that Whitmer lacked the authority to declare a state of emergency or extend an order she issued this spring.

Kelley and the APC called for Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to resign and surrender themselves to authorities to be prosecuted for felonies connected to stay-at-home orders. No such legal actions have occurred, but a petition calling for their arrests is on the APC website.

This fall, when the arrests were made and the kidnapping plot revealed, the American Patriot Council quickly responded to deny any connections to the men charged.

Kelley told Great Lakes Wire he has become politically involved this year because of the protests that often turned violent across the country. That’s why he and others protected the Veteran Garden of Honor in Allendale on June 27 after protests in Grand Rapids led them to believe the monument, which depicts a Union soldier and a Confederate soldier back-to-back, with a young child holding a plaque that says ”Freedom to Slaves,” was in jeopardy.

The Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists made a request under the Freedom of Information Act that showed a text Kelley sent to Township Supervisor Adam Elenbaas before the rally at the park.

“We are showing up in force with militia and more to counter protest,” Kelley wrote. “I have my megaphone and am going to be LOUD, heavily armed and patriotic. The good guys need to know who we are and what we’re up to.”

Kelley said he was merely trying to help protect the park and the city after protestors did millions of dollars of damage in Grand Rapids.

“We said, ‘You’re not going to come to Allendale and tear this statue down and have your violent rhetoric,’” he said. ”How do we know what their intentions are?”

At one point, a man who may have been drinking pulled a gun. The BLM protesters asked members of the militia to deal with him and they did, Kelley said, making sure no one was harmed. He said while the two sides are far apart on issues, he is willing to sit down and talk with anyone and share views and try to find common ground.

“I would be willing to sit down and talk with them,” Kelley said. “I would be willing to meet with anyone.”

He spoke with one man whose politics are far different than his for 2 1/2 hours. They each listed to each other, Kelley said.

“When we were done, he said, ‘You’re different than I thought,’” Kelley said.

He said although it’s been somewhat uncomfortable to be in the midst of this controversy – he admits the Oct. 19 planning commission meeting “got a little messy” – he intends to stand up for what he believes. The allegations made against him will not survive close inspection, Kelley said.

“They’re just targeting me for my conservative views,” he said. “There’s no evidence of wrongdoing nor will they find any. Because I operate my life and my business in a lawful manner.”