Jury convicts Jan. 6 rioter seen in infamous images with feet on desk in Pelosi’s office
Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on January 23, 2023
(WASHINGTON) — A federal jury in Washington, D.C. returned a guilty verdict Monday against a rioter seen in images from the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol putting his feet up on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.
The photos of Richard “Bigo” Barnett kicked back in an office chair with his feet on the desk quickly became among the most infamous to emerge early on out of the Capitol riot — as emblematic of the pro-Trump mob ransacking the nation’s seat of government.
Within days, Barnett was arrested and charged in January 2021, with then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen calling the photos of him at the Capitol “repulsive.” The jury only took a couple of hours to return Monday’s guilty verdict against Barnett on all counts, including felonies for obstruction of an official proceeding and civil disorder as well as several misdemeanors.
Prosecutors said Barnett entered the Capitol carrying a 950,000-volt stun gun, though he was not accused of carrying out any violent attacks during the course of the insurrection.
Barnett was among the earliest waves of rioters to be arrested in the Department of Justice’s investigation of the assault on the Capitol, due in part to him admitting in a televised interview outside the building that he entered Pelosi’s office and left her a note reading “Nancy, Bigo was here you biatch.”
He also was seen in the interview carrying an envelope from Pelosi’s office that was addressed to then-Rep. Billy Long and when asked whether he stole it, he stated, “I did not steal it. I bled on it because they were macing me and I couldn’t f—— 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—— worth it. And I left her a note on her desk that says ‘Nancy, Bigo was here, you b—-,'” Barnett said in the interview.
Interviewed on Monday outside of the court by reporters after the verdict, Barnett complained he didn’t receive a fair trial but it is unclear whether he will seek to formally appeal the jury’s decision.
Barnett, who remains free pending sentencing, could face years in prison on the felony convictions. His sentencing is set for May 3.
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