Propping feet on Pelosi desk was blunder, man testifies

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Arkansas male testified Thursday that he was “going with the flow” when he propped up his feet on a desk in then-Property Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office environment, posing for photos that created him one of the most unforgettable figures from the U.S. Capitol riot two decades back.

On the witness stand at his trial on riot-associated fees, Richard “Bigo” Barnett said he was on the lookout for a toilet within the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when he unwittingly entered Pelosi’s workplace and encountered two information photographers. He mentioned one of the photographers told him to “act purely natural,” so he lounged back in a chair and flung his legs onto the desk.

“Did it dawn on you that what you have been executing could induce some difficulties?” defense lawyer Joseph McBride requested Barnett.

“I was just in the minute,” Barnett replied. “I’m just kind of heading with the movement at this position.”

Prosecutor Michael Gordon showed an on-line publish in which Barnett declared everyone who “does not support the Constitution” to be his enemy. Requested how perfectly he realized the document himself, Barnett inevitably acknowledged that he knew the To start with and Second Amendments effectively, but experienced minimal knowledge of other people.

Barnett, a retired firefighter from Gravette, Arkansas, is one particular of far more than 900 people billed with federal crimes for their perform at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Approximately 500 of them have pleaded guilty. Barnett is 1 of many dozen Capitol riot defendants whose situation has long gone to demo.

Barnett’s demo performed out in the exact same courthouse as two other large-profile trials stemming from the riot. A jury started deliberating in the seditious conspiracy scenario from a 2nd team of associates of the considerably-ideal Oath Keepers. In the meantime, a documentary filmmaker testified in the seditious conspiracy circumstance versus previous Very pleased Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio and four associates.

In Barnett’s circumstance, prosecutors mentioned the 62-yr-outdated experienced a stun gun tucked into his trousers when he stormed the Capitol, invaded Pelosi’s business and posed for a picture that turned a single of the attack’s best-regarded photographs. He also took a piece of her mail and left guiding a take note that reported, “Nancy, Bigo was below,” prosecutors reported. Barnett punctuated the message with a sexist expletive.

Story carries on

Ahead of leaving Capitol grounds, Barnett used a bullhorn to give a speech to the group, shouting, “We took back again our residence, and I took Nancy Pelosi’s office environment!” in accordance to prosecutors.

Barnett, testifying around the conclusion of his demo, said he regrets coming to Washington for the “Stop the Steal” rally in which then-President Donald Trump resolved a group of supporters.

“Two several years of missing daily life. Distress for my loved ones,” he claimed.

He also expressed regret for employing vulgar language in his note to Pelosi.

“I almost certainly shouldn’t have place my toes on the desk,” Barnett claimed.

Questioned by Gordon irrespective of whether he regretted coming into the Capitol, Barnett insisted he was swept together with the group.

“I do not regret obtaining pushed in,” he reported.

A grand jury indicted Barnett on eight prices, like felony counts of civil ailment and obstruction of an official continuing. He also faces a demand of coming into and remaining in restricted developing or grounds with a lethal or unsafe weapon — the stun gun with spikes hid within just a collapsible strolling adhere.

In opening statements for the trial, a prosecutor mentioned Tuesday that Barnett planned the excursion for weeks and came geared up for violence.

“The defendant violated that room,” prosecutor Alison Prout explained.

McBride instructed jurors on Wednesday that Barnett was just a “crazy man from Arkansas” who failed to damage any one on Jan. 6 and could not have harmed anyone with the stun gun product mainly because it was broken that working day.

“We’re not inquiring you to approve of his steps,” McBride claimed, contacting it “the most famous trespass scenario of all time.”

Barnett reported the group of Trump supporters leaving the rally was in a jovial mood as they approached the Capitol. He explained he became angry following he read a loud bang and noticed what appeared to be police officers firing tear gasoline at the group.

“It flipped my globe upside down,” Barnett stated, contacting it his initial experience with police brutality just after years of staying a firefighter. “I went in full crisis mode.”

Barnett said movies display that the crowd pushed him into the Capitol as the approached an entrance, producing him to briefly fall to his knees as he crossed the threshold.

“We have no decision!” he shouted continuously on the movie as he entered the Capitol.

Barnett explained he did not notice he had wandered into Pelosi’s workplace right until just one of the photographers requested him if he realized exactly where he was and he spotted empty envelopes with Pelosi’s name on them,

Following law enforcement purchased him and some others to leave Pelosi’s business, Barnett recognized he experienced remaining his American flag driving. Physique camera video captured Barnett shouting at a law enforcement officer in the Rotunda for assist in retrieving the flag.

Prosecutors reported Barnett experienced a historical past of arming himself at political demonstrations just before the Jan. 6 assault. In July 2020, they stated, a 911 caller described that a man matching Barnett’s description experienced pointed a rifle at her through a “Back the Blue” rally.

“Law enforcement eventually shut the investigation as unfounded owing to unresolved obvious discrepancies in the proof,” prosecutors wrote.

In November 2020, law enforcement ended up known as to a “Save the Children” rally when a caller said Barnett was carrying a gun at the protest and performing suspiciously.