MyPillow CEO says he tried to 'get arrested' for Jan. 6 — but he wasn't even there

Pillows

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell claimed in a recent interview that he asked to be arrested for the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, even though he wasn't present at the time.

Donald Trump and Mike Lindell

During a Sunday interview with right-wing broadcaster Mike Gallagher, Lindell recounted how the FBI presented him with a warrant for his phone in 2022 connected to a case about election tampering in Mesa County, Colorado.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell

Lindell pointed out that he was in a Hardee's drive-thru when the FBI confronted him to take the phone into custody.

Mike Lindell

"So we pull over, and he goes, we're not here to arrest you; we're gonna ask you some questions," Lindell said of the FBI agents. "Well, I wanted to get arrested... I kept going, no, you arrest me, I want to go to the January 6th."

Mike Lindell

"I said, well, I told them I want to go, even though I wasn't on January 6th, I want to go there and speak out what I know and everything, right?" he continued. "And so here I am telling them I want to get arrested. I preached, I talked to them about God in my book. I mean, I kept them there for two hours, you know?"

FBI

However, the FBI agents refused to arrest him, he said.

"They said, you can't call your lawyer," Lindell explained. "I said, well, then you, then I want to be arrested. I said we're at a standoff here. So either, either you're going to arrest me for, you know, not cooperating."

Mike Lindell

The agents eventually allowed Lindell to call his attorney, who advised him to turn over his phone.

Judge

In 2023, a federal judge ruled that Lindell's rights were not violated when the FBI confiscated his phone.