A January 6 rioter who was photographed with his feet on the desk of Nancy Pelosi was found guilty on eight counts by a jury on Monday.
Richard Barnett, 62, also known as “Bigo,” was charged with eight federal crimes relating to his actions at the US Capitol on January 6 2021 including entering and remaining in a restricted area with a deadly or dangerous weapon and obstructing an official proceeding.
Barnett will be sentenced in early May and will stay released on home detention with a GPS ankle monitor until then.
He faces up to 20 years in prison for the top charge of obstructing an official proceeding.
The jury deliberated for a few hours before reaching the verdict.
Barnett’s lawyer Joseph McBride told reporters after the verdict that his client had not received a fair trial because Washington DC, is “not a state” and made up primarily of “Biden voters.”
“We’re not saying there is something inherently wrong with DC or with the jurors.” McBride said.
“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 caught on video surveillance entering Pelosi’s office area on January 6, according to court documents. He was photographed with his boot propped on a desk and the flag draped nearby.
During the trial, Barnett testified he was pushed into the Capitol during the riot and was looking for a place to use the restroom inside the building, admiring all the artwork along the way.
“I wasn’t part of that protest, I was pushed in,” Barnett said during his testimony, where he described himself as “hyper.”
According to court documents, Barnett had a stun gun tucked in his pants when he was inside Pelosi’s office. Barnett said during the trial that he believed it no longer worked because it was washed in the shower.
