A Capitol riot defendant from Arkansas who was infamously photographed putting his feet on then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk in her congressional office was found guilty on eight counts by a DC jury on Monday of this week.
62 year old Richard Barnett, who goes by the nickname “Bigo,” was charged with eight federal crimes relating to his actions during the attempted insurrection, including entering and remaining in a restricted area with a deadly or dangerous weapon and obstructing an official proceeding, namely the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election.
Barnett will be sentenced in May and will continue his home detention with a GPS ankle monitor, despite prosecutor’s request to revoke his release. He could see as many as 20 years in prison for the obstructing an official proceeding charge.
After the guilty verdict, Barnett’s lawyer, Joseph McBride, told reporters that Barnett had not received a fair trial because Washington, DC is “not a state” and is made up of “Biden voters.”
McBride said:
“We’re not saying there is something inherently wrong with DC or with the jurors. We’re saying that we believe politics is the big elephant in the room that nobody wants to speak about here and political considerations about this trial have damaged the jury pool to the extent that we can’t get a fair trial.”
Barnett was seen on video entering Pelosi’s office on the afternoon of January 6, 2021, according to court documents and was infamously photographed with his boot propped on her desk.
Barnett claimed that he was pushed into the riot and was merely looking for a place to use the restroom admiring all the artwork on his way. Barnett was also combative with prosecutors during his testimony, and they later accused him of lying and being “belligerent.”
Barnett had a stun gun tucked in his pants while in the Capitol, and said during the trial that it no longer worked because it was washed in the shower.
Barnett was recorded saying he didn’t steal an envelope he took from the Capitol, but admitted that he wrote Pelosi a note calling her a “b***h:”
“I did not steal it. I bled on it because they were macing me and I couldn’t f**king see so I figured I am in her office. I got blood on her office. I put a quarter on her desk even though she ain’t f**king worth it. And I left her a note on her desk that says ‘Nancy, Bigo was here, you b***h.’”
Barnett’s attorney’s also argued that Barnett wrote “biatch,” not “b***h,” claiming that “slang” was “less offensive.”
