Richard Barnett, the Arkansas man who was photographed with his foot on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) office during the attack on the U.S. Capitol, could take the stand in his criminal trial as early as Thursday, one of his lawyers said.
Barnett faces eight federal charges, including taking a stun gun into the Capitol, theft of government property, and obstructing Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote count. He initially had seven charges against him, but on Dec. 21, prosecutors added the eighth charge of civil disorder. Barnett could be sentenced to a year behind bars if found guilty. His lawyers unsuccessfully attempted to get two of the charges dropped.
Barnett has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
A picture of Barnett reclining in Pelosi’s office went viral and became one of the most recognizable images linked to the attempt to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
Prosecutors have called more than 10 witnesses over the past six days and have argued that Barnett drove from Arkansas to Washington, D.C., “prepared for violence.”
Emily Berret, who worked in Pelosi’s office, was the first to testify.
She walked jurors through the details of what took place on Jan. 6 inside the speaker’s office, as well as attempts to keep staffers safe and evacuation plans for Pelosi. Berret said Barnett had access to sensitive information when he stormed the then-speaker’s office, including details about President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
After the photo of Barnett with his foot on Berret’s desk went viral, she testified that she was flooded with random telephone calls. The number of her work phone, which Pelosi used that day to conduct business and communicate with Vice President Mike Pence, had been visible on a card in the picture tweeted out by Barnett.
Barnett, who goes by the nickname Bigo, bragged about writing Pelosi “a nasty note” and putting “my feet up on her desk.” The note read, “Nancy, Bigo was here, b****,” prosecutors alleged. Before he left her office, Barnett grabbed letterhead and waved it around but insisted later he did not steal it because he “put a quarter on her desk.”
Other witnesses called by prosecutors included Gerald Stutte, a Bass Pro Shop worker who testified Barnett bought a 950,000-volt stun gun from the store that he apparently tucked into his pants. Jurors also saw a video of Barnett reportedly buying pepper spray and two-way radios on Dec. 31, 2020.
“He came prepared for violence,” prosecutor Alison Prout said during opening statements.
Prout also told jurors that Barnett posted on Facebook that “my country will not be socialist as long as I am alive to fight.”
Law enforcement officers, including Capt. Carneysha Mendoza of the U.S. Capitol Police, testified about their experience during the attack. Mendoza also told jurors about a directive that prohibits stun guns in the federal building.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Authorities have alleged that after the picture of him in Pelosi’s office went viral, Barnett went back to Arkansas and tried to destroy evidence linking him to the Capitol attack but that it was too little, too late.
He turned himself in two days later.
