Afrigather An Arkansas man who was photographed on Jan. 6, 2021, together with his toes on a desk in then-Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s workplace took the witness stand at his legal trial Thursday and mentioned he regretted his actions in the course of the assault on the Capitol.
“I shouldn’t have put my toes on the desk,” Richard “Bigo” Barnett advised jurors as he testified in his personal protection on riot-related felony prices. “On the time I believed it was humorous,” he mentioned, however now it simply appears “crass.”
Barnett additionally testified that he would apologize to Pelosi, D-Calif., if she had been there in court docket, and he mentioned he wished he’d by no means gone to the Capitol that day.
“I remorse going,” he mentioned. “It was not what I anticipated or value two years of misplaced life for me and my household.”
Footage of a smiling Barnett reclining in a chair together with his toes up on a desk in Pelosi’s workplace, and what the federal government known as a “stun system” tucked in his pants, turned a number of the most infamous photos of the riot.
Barnett’s lawyer, Joseph McBride, painted an image Thursday of his shopper as a person who acquired swept up within the crowd and had no method to flip again earlier than he was pushed into the Capitol. Barnett testified that going contained in the constructing was “in opposition to his intuition,” and he in contrast the expertise to being in a dream.
Barnett additionally advised jurors that he hadn’t deliberately sought out Pelosi’s workplace. He mentioned he’d been in search of a rest room and had knocked politely on the door to Pelosi’s workplace earlier than he was swept inside by different rioters.
He mentioned he didn’t notice it was Pelosi’s workplace till he picked up an envelope along with her identify on it, which he mentioned he did out of curiosity.
Barnett did acknowledge leaving her a “nasty word.” It learn, “Nancy, Bigo was right here,” and ended with a sexist expletive to confer with Pelosi. Barnett mentioned he regretted utilizing the phrase.
The regrets, nonetheless, had been a far cry from Barnett’s preliminary response after having left the Capitol, when he bragged about his actions to a New York Instances reporter. He advised the reporter that he took an envelope from the desk and left Pelosi 1 / 4 in change, although “she ain’t f—— value it.”
Throughout cross-examination Thursday, Assistant U.S. Lawyer Michael Gordon requested Barnett whether or not he regretted the rest about Jan. 6.
“I remorse the disrespect I confirmed to the officers,” he mentioned. “I remorse that the entire thing occurred.”
He additionally denied that he had any data on the time in regards to the electoral vote counting course of going down that day in Congress.
Gordon then confirmed the jury a Jan. 6 promotional picture that Barnett shared on Fb forward of the riot, which learn: “OPERATION OCCUPY THE CAPITOL.”
“I believed it meant the skin,” Barnett mentioned. “I didn’t actually learn it intently.”
Gordon pressed Barnett to reply questions on whether or not he can be keen to battle fellow Individuals, the army or police to cease Joe Biden from taking workplace. Barnett gave halting, evasive solutions however by no means explicitly mentioned no.
Gordon then launched a screenshot of a Fb publish during which Barnett wrote: “Anybody, and I imply anybody, that doesn’t help the Structure of the US of America is my enemy and will likely be handled as such.”
Barnett’s cross-examination is scheduled to renew Friday.
Alec Wealthy
Alec Wealthy is an intern in NBC’s Political Unit
