Michael Lee Hardin was just arrested by the FBI for his role in the Capitol insurrection. He was also the Salt Lake City Police Department’s “Officer of the Year” in 2012.

A Kaysville man who formerly worked as a Salt Lake City police officer has been arrested by the FBI for allegedly taking part in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Michael Lee Hardin, 50, was taken into custody without incident by members of the FBI’s joint terrorism task force, with assistance from the Utah’s State Bureau of Investigation, for “crimes committed at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.,” according to a news release from the FBI’s Utah office.

A spokeswoman for the Salt Lake City Police Department confirmed that Hardin was an officer there until his retirement in 2017. He served with the city police for about two decades and was named the department’s Officer of the Year in 2012 for solving a 25-year-old murder case.

The FBI caught Hardin by following up on tips from two people who know him, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice. The first tipster, a friend of Hardin who used him as a financial adviser, said Hardin called Jan. 4 to say he was heading to Washington to fight for the United States.

Spoiler, the person Hardin arrested for the 25 year old murder, had an alibi, and was exonerated.

I would note that Hardin retired in 2017, which would have made him 47.  My compliments to the Salt Lake Police association for securing such a generous contract for the officers.

There were way too many police involved in the Capitol riots.