Richard 'Bigo' Barnett, who kicked back in Pelosi's office, testifies - The Washington Post

Barnett, 60 astatine the time, was a income worker of a operation concern who had driven to D.C. from agrarian Arkansas to assistance prevention the state from “the liberals,” helium aboriginal told FBI agents. In the House speaker’s outer sanctum, helium reclined astatine the table with an aerial of nonchalance, similar the institution boss, grinning and holding distant arsenic a photojournalist snapped 1 of the astir widely viewed images from that day’s riotous onslaught connected a associated league of Congress.

An alleged trespasser, successful repose.

“Nancy, Bigo was here, you b----,” helium said helium wrote successful a note, leaving it connected the table earlier departing with an point that didn’t beryllium to him: an bare envelope addressed to a House Democrat and bearing the integer signature of Pelosi (D-Calif.). “I enactment a 4th connected the table adjacent though she ain’t f----ing worthy it,” helium shouted hoarsely extracurricular the Capitol, displaying his souvenir for video cameras.

On Thursday, Barnett, charged with 8 crimes related to the incursion, including theft of authorities spot (to wit, an envelope), sat successful the witnesser container successful a national courtroom successful Washington, wherever helium has been connected trial this month. Now helium wore a charcoal blazer and acheronian slacks and kept his black-loafered feet connected the carpet. His caput was shaved and helium sported a grey goatee bushy capable to screen the knot successful his necktie. In a subdued twang, helium said helium has “regrets.”

“Because of each the controversies,” helium testified. “I astir apt shouldn’t person enactment my feet connected the desk. And my language.” Although helium inactive suspects erstwhile president Donald Trump was fraudulently denied reelection and that “nefarious characters” connected the governmental near are intent connected destroying the Constitution, helium told the assemblage helium would apologize to Pelosi successful idiosyncratic if helium could.

“I’m a Christian,” helium said. “It conscionable wasn’t good. It wasn’t who I am.”

As the Justice Department continues its sprawling probe of the Jan. 6 mayhem, successful which thousands of rioters stormed the Capitol portion Congress was gathering to corroborate President Biden’s 2020 predetermination victory, Barnett’s sparsely attended proceedings was hardly this week’s main lawsuit successful U.S. District Court. Elsewhere successful the building, 2 separate, arguably much consequential prosecutions are underway against 9 members of the right-wing extremist groups the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, each charged with seditious conspiracy stemming from the rampage.

Yet authorities aren’t taking Barnett lightly. In summation to theft, helium is accused of carrying a unsafe limb successful the Capitol, positive a half-dozen offenses involving civilian disorder, amerciable entry, unlawfully demonstrating and obstructing a legislature proceeding. He could walk important clip successful situation if convicted successful what his attorneys suggested is simply a vindictive prosecution, with a stack of piled-on, thinly supported charges brought due to the fact that of the brazenness of their client’s notorious airs successful the speaker’s suite.

“The astir celebrated trespassing lawsuit of each time,” lawyer Joseph D. McBride said sarcastically Wednesday successful his deferred opening statement, aft the authorities had finished presenting its evidence.

“This lawsuit is astir a representation taken by a writer who was perusing the Capitol looking for the cleanable shot, and, boy, did helium ever get it,” McBride said. He described Barnett arsenic “this brainsick redneck from Arkansas,” fixed to “hootin’ and hollerin’,” who “got pushed into the Capitol and enactment his feet up connected the incorrect person’s desk.”

McBride said the grounds successful the lawsuit is insufficient to beryllium the ineligible elements of each complaint beyond a tenable doubt. More broadly, though, helium formed Barnett arsenic a harmless windbag — “that nutty uncle” who has “no consciousness of boundaries” oregon “societal norms,” who “doesn’t needfully acceptable successful today’s world” and “routinely offends others” with governmental incorrectness.

Hoping to span the taste spread betwixt his lawsuit and the D.C. jurors, McBride asked members of the sheet to deliberation of a cringey blowhard, loved but hardly tolerated, successful their families successful cosmopolitan Washington. “Remove him from this municipality sophistication and driblet him disconnected successful the hills of occidental Arkansas,” McBride said, “and present you’ve got Bigo Barnett.”

On the witnesser basal successful Judge Christopher R. Cooper’s courtroom, Barnett, with a wry smile, allowed that helium is “sometimes a loudmouth.” He besides is simply a “loving begetter and husband,” helium told the jury, and an ardent “patriot.”

In Gravette, Ark., his tiny hometown successful the Ozarks, helium got astir of his quality from the internet, helium said. Amid the racial-reckoning unrest of 2020, helium feared the state was headed to ruin, with protesters “burning buildings down and pulling radical retired of cars and sidesplitting people.” That was the communicative helium got from the websites helium visited. And helium said helium was aggravated that Washington politicians seemed much beholden to peculiar interests than to “we the people.”

Then came “the stolen election.” Barnett said helium felt compelled to be Trump’s incendiary rally Jan. 6 connected the Ellipse, which preceded the Capitol riot. Before leaving for Washington, helium stopped successful a Bass Pro Shops outlet to cogwheel up, purchasing six walkie-talkies, immoderate canisters of capsicum spray and a retractable walking instrumentality called a ZAP Hike ’n Strike, equipped connected 1 extremity with a 950,000-volt stun device.

“I bought it for protection,” helium testified. In D.C., “I knew astatine nighttime antifa mightiness beryllium wandering astir sidesplitting and stabbing people. I wanted to beryllium prepared.”

Antifa (short for anti-fascist) is an amorphous question of far-left activists, immoderate convulsive and others not, with an array of extremist ideals and nary coherent organizational structure, according to radical who person studied the group. But Barnett thinks otherwise. “Apparently they person chapters each implicit the place,” is what helium learned successful chatrooms and elsewhere online.

Toting his Hike ’n Strike and an American emblem affixed to a 10-pound metallic pole, Barnett said, helium was successful a assemblage of Trump supporters extracurricular the monolithic Columbia Doors connected the Capitol’s East Front erstwhile the mob surged done the entry. The tide swept him into the building, helium said, and helium meandered astir until helium ended up successful Pelosi’s suite portion searching for a bathroom.

Two quality photographers arrived astatine the aforesaid time. “They said, ‘Do you caput if we instrumentality your picture?’” Barnett recalled. “I said, ‘Yeah, I guess.’ So they said, ‘Why don’t you conscionable beryllium down and enactment natural?’ … I’m conscionable benignant of going with the travel astatine this point. … I conscionable plopped down successful the seat and threw my legs up, due to the fact that they said to enactment natural.” The wealth changeable of Barnett with his footwear atop the desk, his emblem connected a credenza adjacent to him, is credited to Saul Loeb of Agence France-Presse.

It has ever been his “natural” wont to thin backmost and plunk his feet connected a table, astatine location and astatine work, Barnett said. He adjacent sat that mode during an FBI interrogation aft his arrest. (“Look familiar?” helium said to agents.) But this clip it altered his future, leaving him chastened.

“Two years of mislaid life, misery for my family,” helium said of his ineligible predicament.

Finishing his nonstop introspection Thursday, McBride again asked Barnett astir the now-former House speaker.

“I mean, I can’t crook astir and rather honestly accidental I deliberation Nancy Pelosi is simply a bully person,” helium replied. “But I shouldn’t person called her a b----. That’s not right.”