A prosecutor says an Arkansas man who propped his feet on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the riot at the U.S. Capitol planned the trip for weeks and came prepared for violence.
Richard Barnett, left, an Arkansas man who was photographed with his feet on a desk in former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office during the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot, arrives at federal court in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. – An Arkansas man who propped his feet on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the riot at the U.S. Capitol planned the trip for weeks and came prepared for violence, a prosecutor said Tuesday as his trial got underway.
Staffers were huddled down the hall at the time, hiding from rioters after leaving behind computers, cellphones and personal files as they fled, she said. "Everything he did inside was grounded in political protest ... it was all protest, protest, protest," the defense wrote. They decided to wait to give opening statements later in the trial.
Barnett planned for weeks before driving from his home in Gravette, Arkansas, to Washington, D.C., to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, prosecutors said. He hid or destroyed evidence of his riot participation after returning home to Arkansas, according to court documents.at a sheriff’s office in Bentonville, Arkansas, two days after the riot. He told investigators that the large crowd pushed him into the Capitol.
Prosecutors said Barnett had a history of arming himself at political demonstrations before the Jan. 6 attack. In July 2020, they said, a 911 caller reported that a man matching Barnett's description had pointed a rifle at her during a “Back the Blue” rally.
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