Richard “Bigo” Barnett, whose conduct in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office made him among the most visible faces of the Capitol Hill insurrection, was ordered Thursday to remain jailed pending trial.
Mr. Barnett, 60, of Gravette, Arkansas, was remanded to federal custody by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell, who days earlier blocked a magistrate’s decision that he waits for trial at home.
Federal prosecutors have charged over 150 people so far with crimes related to storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, and the FBI is still trying to identify a number of suspects nearly a month later.
Mr. Barnett made himself easy to identify, however. Images of him went quickly viral, and authorities and countless news outlets had named him within hours, according to a charging document filed the next day.
Wearing a plaid shirt and baseball hat, Mr. Barnett was photographed with his foot propped up on a desk inside the House speaker’s office and proudly holding an envelope he admittedly removed from there.
Speaking to a reporter moments later, Mr. Barnett said during a brief interview that he also left a note on the desk in the speaker’s office saying, “Nancy, Bigo was here, you b——”
Mr. Barnett was arrested in Arkansas on Jan. 8, and a federal magistrate judge there ruled a week later that he be confined to his home until his trial happens in Judge Howell’s court in Washington, D.C.
Judge Howell, an appointee of former President Obama, quickly blocked that ruling, however, and Mr. Barnett was ultimately sent back to the capital where the newest order of detention was entered.
Since his initial arrest, federal investigators said they learned that Mr. Barnett was carrying a stun gun when he breached the Capitol and stole property from the House speaker’s office.
“The offenses and conduct charges are very serious and weigh in favor of pretrial detention,” Judge Howell explained in her detention order. “This conduct was brazen.”
Mr. Barnett faces charges of unlawfully entering a restricted area with a weapon, disorderly conduct and theft of public property. He faces up to 11.5 years in federal prison if convicted of all counts.
The next court date currently scheduled for Mr. Barnett is a status conference set for Feb. 2.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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