“You’re too old for this nonsense,” said Judge Christopher Cooper, before he handed down his sentence of 54 months.
Source: CBS News
Washington — An Arkansas man who was photographed propping his foot on a desk in the House speaker’s office during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison on Wednesday, with a judge saying he had “not shown any acceptance of responsibility.”
Richard “Bigo” Barnett was convicted on eight counts including civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding and theft of government property after a trial earlier this year. A photo showing him seated at a desk in then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office became one of the most indelible images of Jan. 6.
On Wednesday, he appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before Judge Christopher Cooper, who handed down his sentence of 54 months. Prosecutors had sought a prison term of more than seven years, noting that Barnett admitted to entering the Capitol wielding a stun gun and carrying an American flag. Cooper seemed skeptical of some of the government’s arguments and imposed a shorter sentence.
The prosecution said Barnett wasn’t at all remorseful for what he did, and that seemed to be borne out by his behavior while released and in the courtroom. Barnett asked for probation. The protection wanted seven years, but the judge wasn’t convinced by some of their arguments, settling on 54 months.
“They want me to be remorseful for things I did not do,” he said at one point, adding that he plans to appeal his convictions and “wasn’t treated fairly.”
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Barnett testified in his own defense at trial and underwent a lengthy and, at times, heated cross-examination. He admitted to having regrets for using a vulgar, misogynistic phrase about Pelosi and for putting his feet on the desk. He testified he was a “f***ing idiot” on Jan. 6, but argued his acts were not criminal.
The prosecution wasn’t buying it, and neither did the judge.
Barnett, prosecutors said in court on Wednesday, expressed “downright mockery of the Justice System” even after he was convicted, and demonstrated an “absolute absence of remorse” for his actions that day. He has since tried to downplay the events of Jan. 6, the government argued, with “nonsensical” claims.
After his participation in the riot, according to prosecutors, Barnett even sold signed copies of photos depicting him sitting with his feet on the desk, “a picture that he characterized as ‘the face of the new anti-federalist movement.'” Barnett said at sentencing that the ploy was his former attorney’s idea and he never profited from the sales.
Judge Cooper with the mic drop.
In sentencing Barnett to 54 months in prison, Cooper said Barnett had not shown remorse.
“While you may regret having gone there that day, you have so far not shown any acceptance of responsibility,” Cooper said, adding later, “You’re too old for this nonsense.”
