A Jan. 6 defendant who famously propped his toes on a desk in then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Capitol suite urged jurors Friday to contemplate his habits the actions of a “fucking fool” — not a felony.
Richard “Bigo” Barnett, who took the stand in his personal protection, grew heated with prosecutor Michael Gordon after Gordon spent hours choosing aside Barnett’s story. Gordon pressed Barnett whether or not he believed he would get away along with his actions due to his hubris. A annoyed Barnett shot again: “I believe the jury’s going to do what they need to do.”
“I’m going to endure the results,” Barnett added, “however I hope they see I didn’t break the regulation and acted like a fucking fool.”
It was a climactic second as a milestone Jan. 6 prosecution neared its conclusion. Barnett’s picture on the desk in Pelosi’s workplace grew to become a logo of the brazenness of the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol and the vulnerability of a key establishment making an attempt to satisfy its duty to certify the 2020 election. The case was poised to go to the jury Friday afternoon, with a verdict doubtless early subsequent week.
In prolonged, tense cross-examination, Gordon raised sharp doubts about key elements of Barnett’s Jan. 6 story. Barnett contended that he climbed the middle steps of the Capitol to realize a vantage level to search out two mates who he misplaced within the chaos. He then claimed that he was “pushed” into the Capitol after getting caught in a densely packed crowd close to the rotunda doorways. He mentioned he roamed across the constructing merely searching for a rest room, and located himself in Pelosi’s workplace suite.
Then, he claimed he bought caught up within the second and acted foolishly by posing for a photograph on the desk of Pelosi aide Emily Berret. He claimed he took an envelope off Berret’s desk — meant for then-Rep. Billy Lengthy (R-Mo.) – and left 1 / 4 as compensation. He didn’t take into account it theft, he mentioned, as a result of he paid for the envelope and eliminated it as a result of he had bled throughout it and wished to take away the “biohazard.”
Gordon advised in questioning that Barnett had ample alternatives to show round and depart the Capitol earlier than he entered the constructing and that he by no means as soon as requested an officer for assist discovering a rest room. And regardless of his purported considerations concerning the tainted envelope, he held onto it for days earlier than throwing it, unsealed, onto the desk in his interview with the FBI. The reality is, Gordon mentioned, Barnett took the envelope as a “trophy.”
“You don’t know the reality, sir,” Barnett shot again.
Video proof performed in the course of the trial confirmed Barnett waving the bloodstained envelope exterior the Capitol, boasting about his jaunt inside Pelosi’s workplace suite and the be aware he left on her desk: “Nancy, Bigo was right here, bi-otch.” Prosecutors famous that Barnett tried — whereas in jail for his alleged Jan. 6 crimes — to have his associate copyright the phrase.
All through his cross-examination, Barnett repeatedly spoke over Gordon’s questioning, typically happening tangents or digressions that prompted admonishments from the decide and from Gordon. As Gordon’s questioning drew to a detailed, Barnett at occasions grew agitated with the pointed inquiries, saying he was “getting fairly bored with it.”
“I ain’t breaking down,” Barnett mentioned after a very tense alternate. “I’ve made errors. I went by hell up there. The officers went by hell up there. … I’m battling this.”
Gordon homed in on Barnett’s interplay with two cops who sought to usher him from Pelosi’s suite. He yelled about “communism” in the course of the first interplay, and in the course of the second, he informed the officer “We’re in a warfare. Decide a aspect. Don’t be on the fallacious aspect otherwise you’re going to get damage.”
Barnett mentioned he was simply “blustering” and that he by no means meant he could be the one to harm the officer.
Barnett’s protection attorneys emphasised that he's susceptible to hyperbole and had no felony historical past, that he by no means dedicated violence contained in the Capitol and turned himself in to regulation enforcement after driving dwelling to Arkansas. Along with Barnett’s testimony, his spouse Tammy Newburn and his cousin Eileen Halpin testified on his behalf, describing him as a unusual, gregarious however well-liked member of his group.
Barnett started his testimony by indicating he regretted his actions towards Pelosi and for going to D.C. in any respect.
However prosecutors emphasised that Barnett repeatedly agitated in opposition to individuals who supported certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory, that he seen “patriots” as individuals who opposed Biden’s election and repeatedly advised he would do something to forestall Biden from taking workplace.