The Department of Justice announced Friday that Arkansas man Richard Barnett has been arrested and charged with a series of federal crimes, including "entering and remaining in restricted building ground without authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct and theft of public property," after allegedly breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's U.S. Capitol office earlier this week.
The man photographed inside Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office during protests in D.C. is from Northwest #Arkansas.
— Alexis Wainwright (@AWainwrightTV) January 6, 2021
The Benton County Republicans, identified the man as Richard Barnett w/@KNWAFOX24. He showed the envelope he took from her office. (Photos via @AllMattNYT/ Getty) #ARnews pic.twitter.com/0qNG8y2OHT
Barnett reportedly admitted he would likely go to jail for his actions and spoke to a local Arkansas news outlet about the situation.
In his interview with 5NEWS, Barnett expressed his anger with the police response to the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
"We marched down there. They start tear-gassing us. They start roughing up our people. It pissed some people off," Barnett said. "They went to the front door, and they started demanding to be let inside. I wasn't even up there at that point. I was climbing the steps to see what was going on. When I got to the top, they had breached the doors and were trying to get in."
Barnett claims he was pushed inside the Capitol when a mob broke through the doors and found Pelosi's office sometime later. Regardless of how he entered the building, he admitted to participating in the rioting inside.
He says he carried a flag into her office, left her a note, and was removed by Capitol Police.
"I threw my feet up on the desk at that point. I realized some a**holes had cut me also and I bled on her envelope, so I picked up the envelope and put it in my pocket, and I put a quarter on the desk cause I'm not a thief," Barnett told 5NEWS.
The note he left said," Nancy, Bigo was here, you B****." "Bigo" is Barnett's nickname.
It's unclear why he was not arrested Wednesday for being part of the siege on Capitol Hill. As of Thursday morning, police had made 83 arrests and released images of 26 other "persons of interests" wanted for unlawful entry to the Capitol.
Recommended
West Virginia Delegate Derrick Evans was also arrested for his involvement.
#BREAKING WV Delegate Derrick Evans has been taken into federal custody.
— Chad Hedrick (@WSAZChadHedrick) January 8, 2021
He’s charged after allegedly entering a restricted area of the US Capitol with rioters Wednesday.
A woman saying he was his grandmother came out telling us to leave as he was put in a car. #WSAZ pic.twitter.com/wK2RqFcaF7
Yesterday, Acting Attorney General Jeffery Rosen announced FBI agents were working to identify others engaged in violence at the Capitol on Wednesday.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member