Richard Barnett, who kicked up his feet on a desk in Speaker Pelosi’s office, had a stun gun at the time.
The smirking photo of Richard “Bigo” Barnett, the 60-year-old self-proclaimed white nationalist seen with his feet on a desk in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, quickly became an iconic image of defilement of the seat of power. A close-up image showed something else that was shocking.
“As seen in the zoomed in box in the photograph below, the ZAP brand is clearly visible on the stun gun tucked into Barnett’s pants,” Capitol Police agent James Solte wrote in a 7-page statement of facts. “Based on the brand on the weapon, and its appearance, the weapon appeared to be a ZAP Hike N Strike 950,000 Volt Stun Gun Walking Stick.”
Authorities found the packaging for that same stun gun two days later when executing a search warrant in Barnett’s home in Gravette, Arkansas, an image also embedded in court papers.
The discovery adds chilling context to Barnett’s Facebook post on Dec. 28, when he said he “came into this world kicking and screaming, covered in someone else’s blood” before adding: “I’m not afraid to go out the same way,” the Washington Post reported.
According to court papers, surveillance footage captured Barnett entering Pelosi’s office at 2:50 p.m. Eastern Time and exiting some six minutes later, with only his phone in hand.
Outside the Capitol, Barnett taunted Pelosi by holding up an envelope allegedly stolen from her office, though he half-denied that in a media interview.
“I did not steal it,” Barnett is recorded as saying. “I bled on it because they were macing me and I couldn’t fucking see so I figured I am in her office. I got blood on her office. I put a quarter on her desk even though she ain’t fucking worth it. And I left her a note on her desk that says “Nancy, Bigo was here, you Bitch.”
Two days after the riot, authorities say, Barnett waived his Miranda rights in an interview where he admitted to driving from Arkansas to Washington, D.C. for the so-called “‘Stop the Steal’ rally.”
[Image via DOJ]
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