Gravette man in jail cell
He surrenders to FBI after photo goes viral
Two days after propping his feet up on a desk in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office in the U.S. Capitol, Richard “Bigo” Barnett of Gravette was in the Washington County jail in Fayetteville.
“Richard Barnett is in FBI custody,” Connor Hagan, a spokesman for the FBI in Little Rock, said Friday. “He self-surrendered this morning at 10 a.m. to our agents at the Benton County sheriff’s office.”
Barnett is scheduled to appear Tuesday in federal court in Fayetteville. He will eventually be extradited to Washington, D.C., according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
After Trump supporters smashed through the doors and windows of the Capitol on Wednesday, Barnett, 60, walked into Pelosi’s office, plopped down in a chair and posed for photographs. His picture went viral. “The shocking images of Mr. Barnett with his boots up on a desk in the Speaker of the House’s office on Wednesday was repulsive,” said Jeffrey A. Rosen, acting attorney general of the United States. “Those who are proven to have committed criminal acts during the storming of the Capitol will face justice.”
Five people died in the day’s events, including a
Capitol Police officer and a person who was shot by a Capitol Police officer.
“Many of the images from the Capitol riot showed the terror. One highlighted the smugness,” read a headline in the Washington Post on Thursday, referring to Barnett’s photo.
“Richard Barnett found a desk that he believed belonged to the most powerful woman in the country and smugly kicked up his boots between her coffee mug and her bowl of paper clips,” wrote Post columnist Monica Hesse.
But it wasn’t Pelosi’s desk, according to a tweet from Christine Pelosi, the speaker’s daughter.
And Barnett didn’t stay for long.
According to a statement of facts from Special Agent James Soltes of the Capitol Police Department, Barnett spent six minutes in Pelosi’s office.
Now he faces a maximum penalty of one year in prison, according to the Justice Department.
On Thursday, Barnett was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful entry; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and theft of public money, property or records (an apparent reference to an envelope taken from Pelosi’s office).
According to a news release from the Justice Department, 13 people connected with Wednesday’s events have been charged in federal court in the District of Columbia and about 40 were charged in Superior Court, which is the trial court for Washington. The Superior Court charges include unlawful entry, curfew violations and firearms-related crimes.
Wednesday’s incidents are still under investigation.
Hagan said the FBI is asking for help in identifying people in photographs and video from the Capitol on Wednesday. Those images are posted on the FBI’s website at fbi.gov. The agency is
also looking for people who may have more photos or video.
“The irony is that almost none of these rioters wore masks so they will be easier to identify,” tweeted veteran newsman Dan Rather.
“My Office is committed to prosecuting all individuals who participated in these abhorrent acts to the fullest extent of the law,” said Michael Sherwin, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Steven M. D’Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, said the Capitol is “one of the most iconic buildings in our country and a symbol of the Constitution.”
“Its destruction will not be tolerated,” he said.
Barnett’s arrest demonstrates to all those involved that the FBI will find you and hold you accountable for your crimes, no matter
your location, said D’Antuono, who thanked the FBI’s Little Rock Field Office for “their quick assistance in bringing this perpetrator to justice.”
Once the Capitol was breached, people streamed through the building.
A Republican West Virginia lawmaker livestreamed the event. Del. Derrick Evans was subsequently charged with entering a restricted area of the Capitol, according to the Associated Press.
In his now-deleted video, which was widely shared online, Evans could be seen in a packed Capitol doorway, trying with others to push his way inside. He hollers along with other Trump loyalists and fist-bumps a law enforcement officer who let them in, according to The Associated Press.
“Our house!” Evans yells inside Capitol halls. “I don’t know where we’re going. I’m following the crowd.”
Meanwhile, word was getting around that Pelosi’s office had been occupied. And the furniture was under their feet.
From photographs circulating in the news media, databases were searched and the foot-propper was identified as Barnett.
“One photo shows Barnett seated inside of Nancy Pelosi’s office with his feet propped on a desk with an America flag lying on an adjacent credenza,” Soltes wrote in his statement of facts, which accompanied the charging document filed in federal court. “Barnett is wearing a hat, plaid jacket, blue jeans and brown boots in the photo.
“Another photo depicts Barnett seated holding an envelope in his left hand addressed to The Honorable Billy Long 2453 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 and a digital signature of Nancy Pelosi.
“In another photo, an individual whose face is blocked by a flag but appears to be Barnett based on his clothing is seated at a different desk with his feet propped holding an American flag and a cell phone.”
Video surveillance from a camera positioned outside the speaker’s main office door shows someone “pushing” the locked door open about 2:33 p.m. Wednesday, wrote Soltes.
“At 2:50 p.m. Barnett is captured on surveillance video carrying an American flag and a cellular phone while entering the doors which lead to the Speaker’s conference room adjoining the main office space,” wrote Soltes. “At 2:56 p.m. Barnett is captured leaving the main office doors of the Speaker’s office space with only a phone in his hand.”
Afterwards, Barnett spoke to a reporter who filmed the exchange, wrote Soltes.
When asked how he obtained the envelope, Barnett says: “I did not steal it. I bled on it because they were macing me and I couldn’t f ****** see so I figured I am in her office. I got blood on her office. I put a quarter on her desk even though she ain’t f****** worth it. And I left her a note on her desk that says “Nancy, Bigo was here, you b****.”
“In another photograph which appears to be taken outside on Capitol grounds, Barnett is depicted holding the envelope he purported to have taken from Speaker Pelosi’s office,” wrote Soltes. “Based on the writing on the envelope, the envelope appears to be the same envelope Barnett was photographed holding inside of the office building.”
Gravette Mayor Kurt Maddox said residents and the city had received threats after photos and videos of Barnett went viral, citing Gravette as his home. The mayor said Barnett lives outside the city limits.
Hagan said it was “unacceptable” that people were threatening residents of Gravette.
“We have made a swift arrest,” said Hagan. “This guy is facing multiple charges. There is no reason to involve townspeople or city employees of Gravette who had nothing to do with the Jan. 6 incident. There’s no reason to threaten them and the FBI takes a very dim view of threats made against citizens of Northwest Arkansas.”
State Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Gravette, tweeted Friday in response to a reporter’s question: “I am glad that Barnett is [in] custody. I hope that he and all who participated with him in this outrageous attack on our nation’s capital resulting in the loss of one of our Capitol police officers are brought to justice. Barnett does not represent my town or my state.”