Jury convicts man who propped his toes on desk in Pelosi’s workplace on Jan. 6
By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An Arkansas man who famously was photographed placing his toes up on a desk inside then-U.S. Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s workplace in the course of the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol was convicted on eight counts by a Washington jury on Monday, the Justice Division stated.
The responsible verdict towards Richard “Bigo” Barnett got here just some days after he took the stand in his personal protection – a dangerous transfer that has typically backfired for different defendants charged in reference to the Capitol riot.
Barnett, 62, of Gravette, Ark., was amongst one of many earliest individuals to be arrested after supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in a failed bid to dam Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election victory.
A photograph of him along with his toes propped up on a desk in Pelosi’s workplace went viral within the days following the assault.
In a media interview after the assault, he was quoted as saying: “I put 1 / 4 on her desk though she ain’t fucking value it. And I left her a word on her desk that claims ‘Nancy, Bigo was right here, you Bitch.'”
He additionally took an envelope from the desk that was addressed to a different member of Congress and digitally signed by Pelosi.
The jury convicted Barnett of eight crimes, together with theft of presidency property and obstructing an official continuing. Obstruction of an official continuing can carry as much as 20 years in jail.
In his testimony, Barnett acknowledged he behaved badly, however insisted he didn’t perceive that Congress was certifying the electoral votes, and he claimed he didn’t understand he was in a restricted space, the Wall Avenue Journal reported.
In explaining the well-known {photograph}, he informed the jury: “That’s how I sit at my desk at house,” the newspaper reported.
Barnett, talking outdoors the courthouse following the decision, informed reporters he didn’t get a good trial as a result of he didn’t have a jury of his “friends,” in response to video of his remarks from CBS Information.
Requested what he meant by that, Barnett’s lawyer stated his shopper didn’t have a jury comprised of “individuals from Arkansas… or a jury that has a political composition of something that is like the remainder of the USA.”
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; extra reporting by Susan Heavey; Enhancing by Invoice Berkrot)