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Craig Long: MAGA influencer arrested in Polk County prostitution sting; 5 things to know
Craig Long, a MAGA influencer, was among 266 people arrested in a prostitution sting in Polk County, along with Jan 6 rioter Ryan Yates.
Craig Long, a MAGA influencer, was among 266 people arrested in a prostitution sting in Polk County, Florida along with Jan 6 rioter Ryan Yates. Sheriff Grady Judd announced the arrests were related to prostitution, human trafficking and child predators, as per local channel WHMI.
“We made 266 total arrests,” he said, adding “about 247 of them were in the human trafficking operation.” The sheriff continued that suspects collectively had “1,028 previous charges” before deputies added “439 more charges to the repertoire.”
“People that think, ‘Oh, this is low-level and not violent’ — yeah, that’s wrong. It is violent, and it’s dangerous,” Judd said. Here's all you need to know about Craig Long.
Craig Long: 5 things to know about MAGA influencer
- Long is 41 years old. He reportedly has a fitness company in Tampa.
- As per Long's X profile, he is ‘MAGA to the core’. He has over 500K followers on TikTok and over 80,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.
- Long claims to be ‘outspoken’ on his Instagram and Facebook bios.
- His bios also indicate that he is a supporter of gun rights or the Second Amendment rights.
- Further, Long's bios indicate he is an ex-convict. “2A Rights restored(ex-con),” the bios read.
When speaking of Long's arrest, Sheriff Judd said “Well, I'm gonna give him some content for social media. He was a previous felon who straightened up — really what we wanna see in life. Now he's an influencer.” He added “He moves in big circles. Even with the president,” sharing a photo of Long with President Donald Trump.
They had met at the UFC event in Florida. Judd continued “We like the fact that he likes the cops. Heck, he liked them so much, he got caught up in a sting and got to be ripping up and real close with the cops. He appreciates law enforcement. Well, there you go, you got arrested in the human trafficking sting. Influence that for a while.”
Apart from Long, the other person of note who was arrested was January 6 rioter Ryan Yates. Judd said of the Capitol Hill rioter “Well, we're not giving him a blanket pardon. He got away with it in the federal system, but not here. He came here to violate the law. We arrested him... he didn't resist us like he did the Capitol Police. He knew better.” The sheriff was referring to the pardons Trump has granted to January 6 rioters.
What to know about Ryan Yates
Yates is 40 years old, and is from Holiday, Florida. In 2024, he was sentenced to jail after pleading guilty to a felony charge stemming from his conduct at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. “His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election,” the DOJ document on him notes.
Yates had been arrested by the FBI on September 26, 2023, in Tampa Bay, Florida. He was sentenced to six months in jail, three months in home detention, 24 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
