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Ryan Scott Zink

Pardoned January 6 defendant

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Ryan Scott Zink is a Lubbock, Texas man, a former Texas Tech student, and today a candidate for the United States House of Representatives in Texas' 19th Congressional District. He went to Washington on January 6, 2021 with a phone in his hand. He came home to a federal case. He is still standing, and he is still talking, and now he is on a ballot in West Texas. WHO HE IS FACT: Ryan Zink is from Lubbock and attended Texas Tech University. Local outlets KCBD and EverythingLubbock covered his case from arrest through sentencing as a Lubbock story, start to finish. FACT: He is the son of Jeff Zink, who publicly defended him and told Lubbock media the conviction was unfair. THEIR ACCOUNT: Ryan Zink has said the videos he shot that day tell a story the public was never shown, and he has released them himself. Newsweek covered him sharing his own January 6 footage. THE LEGAL FIGHT FACT: Arrested February 4, 2021. Indicted March 5, 2021. Arraigned March 18, 2021 and pleaded not guilty to counts one through four. FACT: Federal prosecutors moved to keep him detained while the case proceeded. EverythingLubbock reported the detention fight. FACT: On September 19, 2023 a jury found him guilty. KCBD and EverythingLubbock reported the verdict. FACT: He received federal prison time at sentencing. FACT: On January 20, 2025, President Trump granted clemency covering the January 6 prosecutions. Ryan Zink was pardoned. He told Big Country Homepage: we deserve to know the truth. WHAT HE IS DOING NOW FACT: Ryan Zink is a 2026 Republican candidate for Congress in Texas District 19. KCBD covered him laying out his priorities for District 19 in February 2026, and the Texas Tribune and Houston Chronicle covered the race. FACT: His campaign site is ryanzink.vote. WHAT THIS DOES NOT PROVE It does not prove every word said about him in 2021 was true. It does not prove the sentence fit the man. WHAT IT DOES PROVE A West Texas kid got convicted, got pardoned, and got on a ballot instead of getting quiet. That is the record. CASE RECORD Name: Ryan Scott Zink Hometown: Lubbock, Texas Case number: 1:21-cr-191 Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Arrest date: February 4, 2021 DOJ record: justice.gov/usao-dc/defendants/zink-ryan-scott This profile is unclaimed. If this is you, or your family, claiming it is free, forever.