Man who put feet up on Nancy Pelosi’s desk after storming of Capitol Hill charged
A man who was pictured casually putting his feet up on Nancy Pelosi’s desk as pro-Trump rioters stormed the US capitol has been charged.
The top deputy federal prosecutor in Washington, Ken Kohl, said Richard Barnett was charged for entering the House Speaker’s office, where he ‘left a note and removed some of the her mail’.
Barnett, 60, had turned himself in to FBI agents at a sheriff’s office in Bentonville, Arkansas on Friday after the image of him lounging at a desk in Pelosi’s office spread on news outlets across the world.
Authorities said in court documents that they were able to identify Barnett in part through photographs taken by the media when he was inside the building.
Officials also used video surveillance from inside the Capitol and an interview Barnett gave to a New York Times reporter in which he said: ‘I didn’t steal (an envelope). … I put a quarter on her desk, even though she ain’t worth it.’
Barnett is being held at the Washington County Detention Centre without bond pending an initial court appearance and faces up to a year in federal prison if convicted.
The Trump supporter faces three charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in restricted grounds without authority; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and theft of public property or records.
Prosecutors have vowed to crackdown on anyone found to have caused trouble at the riots, which lead to five deaths including the death of a police officer.
The Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, Steven D’antuono, warned: ‘Just because you’ve left the DC region, you can still expect a knock at the door, if we find out you were part of the criminal activity at the Capitol.
‘We are sparing no expense or personnel or effort to root those perpetrators out and find them.’
Another person who has been charged is West Virginia state lawmaker Derrick Evans, who posted videos online showing himself pushing his way inside the Capitol, fist bumping with a police officer and then milling around the Rotunda as he shouted ‘Our house!’.
Meanwhile the man seen on video carrying Pelosi’s lectern has been arrested in Pinellas County, Florida, at the request of the US Department of Justice.
Dad-of-five Adam Johnson, 36, was booked on Friday and is being held on a federal warrant.
Kohl said prosecutors have filed criminal cases against at least 55 individuals related to the mayhem at the Capitol. They include charges for unlawful entry, weapons violations and assault.
The FBI and the Metropolitan Police Department have also opened up a murder investigation into the death of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick.
He is thought to have died after being hit over the head with a fire extinguisher as law enforcement clashed with the mob.
Federal investigators are looking at everyone involved in the unrest and have indicated Donald Trump could face charges for his role inciting the riots.
Chaos broke out hours after the president held a rally nearby at which he told supporters to ‘walk down to the Capitol’.
Lawmakers had gathered there to certify the result of November’s election.
Trump, who has spent months making baseless allegations of voter fraud, said: ‘You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.’
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