A white nationalist who admittedly sat in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and took an envelope amid the raid of the U.S. Capitol Building on Wednesday has been arrested.
Richard “Bigo” Barnett, 60, was there on Wednesday. That’s not being disputed. Here he is saying he was in the office, saying he took an envelope that he had incidentally bled on, and he left her a note stating, “Bigo was here, you bitch.”
Here’s Mr. Barnett, who goes by “Bigo,” telling the story in his own words pic.twitter.com/oSyKiCDXgy
— Matthew Rosenberg (@AllMattNYT) January 6, 2021
The anti-Pelosi combativeness is not surprising. The speaker was long a PR target of President Donald Trump, who incessantly lies that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. Trump supporters like Barnett rushed the Capitol Building as Congress was certifying the electoral college votes that favored President-elect Joe Biden.
The Department of Justice said in a statement Friday that the defendant is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and theft of public money, property, or records. In announcing their case, authorities pointed out the oft-shared pictures in which Barnett was in Pelosi’s office, which is a restricted area.
He was arrested Friday in Arkansas, authorities said. They plan to extradite him to Washington D.C. It is unclear if he has an attorney in this matter.
From Nancy Pelosi‘s chair to jail.
This is Richard Barnett.
His federal charges are: knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful entry; violent entry & disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; & theft of public money, property, or records. pic.twitter.com/EJ8rszTH0x— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) January 8, 2021
Barnett is a white nationalist.
“I am white. There is no denying that,” he wrote in a pseudonymous Facebook post four days before the Capitol Building incident, according to The Washington Post. “I am a nationalist. I put my nation first. So that makes me a white nationalist.”
Update – 4:52 p.m.: We added reference to the DOJ’s statement on Barnett’s arrest.
[Screengrab via Matthew Rosenberg on Twitter; picture of Barnett in Pelosi’s office via SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images]
