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SAUL LOEB

The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/january-6-capitol-riot/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Jan. 6</a> rioter who was photographed with his foot propped on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s offices and then tried to make money with the image was sentenced to 4½ years in prison Wednesday.

The photograph of Richard “Bigo” Barnett in the California Democrat’s suite of offices in 2021 became one of the defining images of the Capitol riot. Soon after his arrest, Barnett offered autographed photos of the scene for $100, prosecutors said. And when FBI agents came to interview him, he again put his feet on a table, commenting, “Does this look familiar?”

Barnett was defiant this year throughout his trial, during which he lied about the circumstances of the photo and many of his actions in the Capitol. In social media posts as recently as last week, <a href="https://twitter.com/BigoBarnett/status/1659210773422551042" target=_blank>he criticized federal prosecutors as “demonically possessed cretans [sic]”</a> and called police who were at the Capitol that day thugs.

Man photographed in Pelosi’s office on Jan. 6 convicted of 8 counts

A jury in federal court convicted Barnett in January of four felonies, including obstruction of an official proceeding, and four misdemeanors. Barnett carried a walking stick with a 950,000-volt stun device into the Capitol along with a 10-pound metal flagpole and menaced police with them, prosecutors said, but he did not assault any officers. Prosecutors requested a sentence of more than seven years in prison for Barnett.

But the federal judges in D.C. have shown little interest in prosecutors’ recommendations, going below them nearly 80 percent of the time in Jan. 6 prosecutions, a Washington Post analysis shows. U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper, who has gone below the government recommendation in more than 82 percent of his Jan. 6 sentencings, did so again Wednesday, ruling that a sentencing enhancement for threatening to injure a police officer, which added 11 to 14 months to Barnett’s possible term, was too drastic.

Cooper went below the voluntary sentencing guideline range of 71 to 87 months, with prosecutors seeking 87 months, and imposed 54 months with three years of supervision upon release. The average sentence for an obstruction of an official proceeding charge for Jan. 6 defendants has been about 42 months, Post data shows.

Barnett also was allowed to leave the courtroom and turn himself in at his convenience. Unlike the judges in most criminal sentencings in the United States, the federal judges in D.C. largely have allowed Jan. 6 defendants to arrange for their own surrender at a later date after sentencing, unless they’re already in custody. In most criminal courts, defendants sentenced to prison time are taken into custody right away. Barnett also requested to be assigned to a prison in South Dakota with classes in training dogs, and though Cooper said the choice of a prison was not like selecting a hotel, he agreed to make the recommendation.

Barnett, 63, is a retired firefighter and former bull rider from Gravette, Ark. Prosecutors said he prepared for his trip to Washington for weeks, posting sentiments about his planned visit such as “I ain’t going down easy, [I’ll do] Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes.” He also shared a digital flier that promoted “Operation Occupy the Capitol” and was subtitled “Taking back our country from corrupt politicians.”

Review of Jan. 6 cases finds judges give harsh lectures, lighter sentences

A week before Jan. 6, Barnett also purchased the 950,000-volt ZAP Hike ‘n Strike Hiking Staff, a stun device concealed in a walking stick, investigators found. On Jan. 4, 2021, soon after Barnett arrived in Washington, he began bragging about urinating on fire hydrants in the city to “mark our territory,” prosecutors said. During the evening of Jan. 5, Barnett demonstrated the Hike ‘n Strike’s electric shock capabilities in his hotel bar, leading to the bar being shut down, according to court records.

The next day, Jan. 6, Barnett attended the Stop the Steal rally headlined by President Donald Trump, then walked to the Capitol, filming himself pursuing and harassing police officers, prosecutors said. Barnett entered through the east side and later claimed that he was forced inside by the mob there. Prosecutors noted that video showed Barnett maneuvered his way into the center of the crowd, made no attempt to leave the throng of people, and “when the opportunity presented itself, he entered the Capitol,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alison B. Prout and Michael M. Gordon wrote.

Manuel Balce Ceneta

Barnett soon found his way to the speaker’s offices and sat down behind a staff member’s desk, apparently thinking it was Pelosi’s. He found an empty envelope bearing Pelosi’s digital signature and stole it, leading to a conviction for misdemeanor theft of government property. Barnett said he left a quarter behind, thereby mitigating the theft.

Barnett testified that he put his boot on the desk after two photographers told him to “sit down and act natural” as they took the photo. The photographers, from Agence France-Presse and the European Pressphoto Agency, both<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/01/19/pelosi-office-desk-richard-barnett-testimony/" target=_blank> told The Post that was false</a>. Neither was asked to testify.

Then Barnett decided to leave a note for Pelosi, writing, “Nancy, Bigo was here, you b-----.” At trial, Barnett expressed some regret over his actions.

“I probably shouldn’t have put my feet on the desk,” Barnett testified. “And my language … I’m a Christian. It just wasn’t good. It wasn’t who I am.” He told the jury he would apologize to Pelosi in person if he could.

He kicked back in Pelosi’s office on Jan. 6. Now he has ‘regrets.’

Barnett left Pelosi’s offices when U.S. Capitol Police arrived, but he soon realized he had forgotten his flagpole. He tried to go back for it but wound up in a faceoff with D.C. police officer Terrence Craig, who testified that Barnett flashed his stun device at him and then motioned for additional rioters to overwhelm the police line.

Barnett left the Capitol about 30 minutes after entering. He then joined the crowd outside, where he proudly displayed the envelope he had taken and encouraged others to go inside, prosecutors said.

At his sentencing, Barnett thanked Cooper for releasing him after he spent three months in jail in 2021. “They say I’m not remorseful,” Barnett told the judge. “Listen to what they want me to be remorseful for. They say I’m a terrorist. … They want me to be remorseful for things I did not do.” He said he would appeal his conviction. “I still think I have a chance to prove I’m innocent,” Barnett said.

Cooper took issue with much of Barnett’s trial testimony, particularly his claim that he was forced into the Capitol by the mob. “You were an active participant,” the judge said, “not a bystander caught up in this.” He also rejected Barnett’s claims that he lost his phone when it fell off his car and that his stun device wasn’t working on Jan. 6.

“I think you know as well as I do that none of those things happened,” Cooper said. He said Barnett’s testimony showed “disrespect for the legal system, which is an affront to me and the citizens who sat here for two weeks as jurors. … You have become one of the faces of January 6th, and I think you kind of enjoy that notoriety. You’re ‘Bigo.’ You even tried to profit from your involvement. … For all the people who follow ‘Bigo,’ they need to know they cannot act as they did on January 6th without serious repercussions.”

Barnett declined to comment outside the courthouse after the sentencing.

Pulitzer Prize for The Washington Post's breaking news coverage of Virginia Tech shooting, 2008

Pulitzer Prize for The Washington Post's investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, 2022

Rites of Burial

University of Notre Dame, BA in English and American Studies

Tom Jackman has been covering criminal justice for The Washington Post since 1998 and anchors the True Crime blog. He previously covered crime and courts for the Kansas City Star.

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Richard Barnett, seen in Pelosi's office on Jan. 6, sentenced to 4.5 years

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