Richard Barnett trial: ‘Bigo’ says he regrets being at Capitol on Jan. 6, would apologize to Pelosi
Barnini Chakraborty
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Richard “Bigo” Barnett, the man whose picture went viral after he put his foot on a desk in former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) office during the Capitol attack, told a jury on Thursday that he regretted his actions and would apologize to Pelosi in person if he could.
“I shouldn’t have put my feet on the desk,” he said, adding that he thought it was “funny” at the time but now seems “crass.”
“I’m a Christian,” he said. “It just wasn’t good. It wasn’t who I am.”
Barnett also said he wished he had never attended the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C.
“I regret going,” he said. “It was not what I expected or worth two years of lost life for me and my family.”
Barnett is facing 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’s lawyer, Joseph McBride, accused prosecutors of vindictively going after his client and sarcastically told jurors that the trial is “the most famous trespassing case of all time.”
“This case is about a picture taken by a journalist who was perusing the Capitol looking for the perfect shot, and boy, did he ever get it,” McBride said.
McBride described Barnett as “this crazy redneck from Arkansas” who got caught up in the events that unfolded, was “hootin’ and hollerin'” and got “pushed into the Capitol and put his feet up on the wrong person’s desk,” the Washington Post reported.
Prosecutors called more than 10 witnesses in their case and argued that Barnett drove from Arkansas to Washington, D.C., “prepared for violence.”
Among those who testified was Emily Berret, Pelosi’s top aide.
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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 office, including details about President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
After the photo of Barnett with his foot on the 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.