Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

The Man Photographed With His Foot On Nancy Pelosi’s Desk During The Capitol Riots Will Be Released From Jail

The Man Photographed With His Foot On Nancy Pelosi’s Desk During The Capitol Riots Will Be Released From Jail

Richard Barnett was ordered to remain in jail in January, but a judge ruled Tuesday that his case now was too similar to those of other defendants who were allowed to go home.

Richard Barnett, an Arkansas man photographed with his foot on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk during the Capitol insurrection, will be allowed to go home as his case goes forward, a judge ruled Tuesday, reversing a January order that had kept him behind bars.

Barnett is one of the most high-profile defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6 riots to date. The photos of him smiling as he sat in Pelosi’s office went viral, as did a video of him outside the Capitol in which he told a reporter that he’d left a note that read, “Nancy, Bigo was here, you bitch.” At a hearing in late January, a federal judge in Washington, DC, ordered Barnett to remain in jail, concluding that his “entitled behavior ... shows a total disregard for the law and for officials' directives.”

But the legal landscape surrounding the Capitol riot cases has changed in the last three months, and Barnett made another attempt at getting out of jail. This time, citing recent developments in the hundreds of prosecutions filed since his arrest on Jan. 8 and appearing before a different judge, he succeeded. US District Judge Christopher Cooper concluded that prosecutors had failed to show that Barnett posed a specific future threat to public safety that couldn’t be addressed by restrictive release conditions.

Throughout the hearing, Cooper expressed skepticism about arguments Barnett’s lawyer made challenging the strength of the government’s evidence. Cooper said that information presented by prosecutors about Barnett’s apparent connection to the QAnon mass delusion and involvement in QAnon-affiliated demonstrations in which he was armed was “concerning.” But a March opinion from the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, which set the bar higher for pretrial detention for Jan. 6 defendants who aren’t charged with specific acts of violence, ultimately worked in Barnett’s favor, Cooper said; he announced his decision shortly after hearing arguments.

The note Barnett is alleged to have left on Pelosi's desk on Jan. 6.

Barnett’s situation wasn’t different enough from those of the defendants in the DC Circuit case, Eric Munchel and Lisa Eisenhart, Cooper said. Munchel and Barnett were both charged with carrying stun guns into the Capitol, but they weren’t accused of assaulting anyone or destroying property. The government argued that Barnett had tried to conceal evidence — his phone and the walking stick–shaped stun gun he brought to the Capitol were never recovered — but Cooper said at most this indicated “consciousness of guilt” or some risk of flight, not that he was dangerous, which was the standard the government was trying to meet.

Cooper did make clear that he was unimpressed by an argument Joseph McBride, Barnett’s lawyer, made linking the events of Jan. 6 with protests against racism and police brutality the previous year.


“The notion that the events of January 6 were a legitimate or excusable social protest against ruling elites or, worse yet, a reaction to some people in society feeling that they have been unfairly scapegoated for racism is, in a word, absurd,” Cooper said.

Barnett will be released to home detention and prohibited from having any weapons in his home — including stun guns, Cooper noted. The judge warned Barnett that the decision to allow him to go home wasn’t a sign that he’d be lenient if he later pleaded guilty or went to trial and was convicted. Cooper said he’d look at Barnett’s compliance with his release conditions in crafting any sentence. ”Consider this a test, okay?” he said. Barnett, who was appearing remotely from jail for the virtual hearing and had been silent while his lawyer argued, thanked the judge.

It’s the latest setback for the US attorney’s office in Washington since the DC Circuit’s ruling in Munchel and Eisenhart’s case. Prosecutors in some cases have dropped efforts to keep defendants behind bars in the weeks since the appeals court released the opinion, and judges in some cases — but not all — have handed the government losses when prosecutors pressed ahead with seeking detention.

Pretrial detention isn’t supposed to be punishment for a crime that a defendant hasn’t been convicted of yet; judges are only supposed to keep someone in jail if they meet certain criteria, including if they pose a flight risk or danger to the public or risk obstructing the case. Cooper noted that the DC Circuit held in Munchel’s case that participation in the insurrection on its own wasn’t enough to justify detention and that the government hadn’t shown Barnett posed a “concrete danger” any more than others who also believed in QAnon and had access to firearms.

Assistant US Attorney Mary Dohrmann told Cooper that she hadn’t formally extended a plea offer to Barnett but had been in early talks with his lawyer about that possibility. A federal grand jury returned a seven-count indictment against Barnett in late January; Dohrmann said on Tuesday that his estimated sentencing guidelines range for those charges is between 70 and 87 months in prison, although that could change if he ended up pleading guilty and cooperating. The first plea agreement in the Capitol riot cases was revealed earlier this month.

A spokesperson for the US attorney’s office declined to comment. Barnett’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the hearing.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
×