by The January 6 rioter who was photographed with his feet on Nancy Pelosi’s desk was found guilty on eight counts by a jury on Monday.
Richard Barnett, 62, also known as “Bigo”, was charged with eight federal crimes related to his actions at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, including entering and being in a restricted area with a deadly or dangerous weapon and obstruction of official proceedings.
Barnett will be sentenced in early May and will remain under house arrest with an ankle GPS tracker until then.
He is facing up to 20 years in prison for obstruction of official proceedings.
The jury deliberated for several hours before reaching a verdict.
Barnett’s lawyer, Joseph McBride, told reporters after the verdict that his client did not receive a fair trial because Washington “is not a state” and is made up mostly of “Biden voters.”
“We’re not saying there’s anything inherently wrong with DC or the jurors.” McBride said.
“What we’re saying is that we think politics is the big elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about here, and political considerations about the trial have hurt the jury to the point where we can’t get a fair trial.”
According to court documents, Barnett was caught on video surveillance as he entered Pelosi’s office on January 6. He was photographed with a shoe propped against a desk and a flag draped nearby.
During the trial, Barnett testified that he was pushed into the Capitol during the riots and was looking for a place to use the restroom inside the building, admiring all the artwork along the way.
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“I wasn’t part of this protest, I was pushed in,” Barnett said during his testimony, in which he described himself as “hyper”.
According to court documents, Barnett had a Taser hidden in his pants when he was in Pelosi’s office. Barnett said during the trial that he believed it no longer worked because it was washed in the shower.
