WASHINGTON (AP) — An Arkansas man who propped his feet on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office in a widely circulated photo from the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced Wednesday to more than four years in prison.
Richard “Bigo” Barnett became one of the faces of the Jan. 6 riot by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, and U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper said in announcing that sentence that Barnett seemed at times to enjoy the notoriety.
“All the folks who follow ‘Bigo’ need to know the actions of Jan. 6 cannot be repeated without some serious repercussions,” Cooper said, alluding to the media attention and social media following Barnett attracted after the riot.
The 54-month sentence for Barnett from Gravette, Arkansas, comes after he was convicted at trial on eight counts, including felony charges of civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding, in this case a Jan. 6, 2021, session of Congress to certify Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
