An American, who had been immortalized with his feet on a table in the office of the elected Democrat Nancy Pelosi during the assault on the Capitol, was sentenced on Wednesday to four and a half years in prison. On January 6, 2021, Richard Barnett entered the seat of Congress with thousands of supporters of Donald Trump, when elected officials certified the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential election.
He had been photographed by Agence France-Presse in the office of the head of the House of Representatives at the time, Nancy Pelosi, with his feet on a piece of furniture. The cliché had gone around the world and allowed the police to arrest him quickly. According to the indictment, this supporter of the Qanon conspiracy movement had left an insulting message to the Democrat and stolen an envelope she had signed.
Earlier this year, he was tried in federal court in Washington and found guilty of, among other things, “obstructing official process”, “robbery”, and “trespassing on an official building with a dangerous weapon”. », in this case a walking stick capable of sending electric shocks. During his trial, the 60-year-old was defiant, claiming to have been “pushed inside” the Capitol by the crowd. He showed no regrets and “sought to capitalize on his notoriety,” attempting to sell copies of the famous autographed photo for $100, prosecutors said in a closing statement sent to the judge ahead of sentencing. .
More than 1,000 people have been arrested since the attack and nearly 300 sentenced to prison terms, with a maximum of 14 years for a man who already had a lengthy criminal record. On Thursday, it will be the turn of the founder of the far-right militia Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, to be fixed on his sentence and he could receive a much heavier sentence. In November, he was found guilty of “sedition”, a rare and serious charge, and prosecutors requested 25 years in prison.