On January 6, 2021, Barnett, along with thousands of Trump supporters, stormed the nation’s legislative seat in an attempt to stop members of Congress from perpetuating the Republican president’s defeat for a second term and approving the victory of his Democratic rival, Joe. Biden, in the presidential election.
That day, an AFP photographer took a photo of Barnett sitting in Pelosi’s chair and resting his left foot on his desk.
This image went around the world and allowed the police to quickly arrest him.
According to the indictment filed against this supporter of the “Q Anon” movement, which promotes conspiracy theories, Barnett left a letter for Pelosi that included insults about him and stole an envelope bearing his signature.
Earlier this year, Barnett appeared in federal court in Washington, where he was found guilty of several counts, including “obstructing official process”, “theft” and “breaking into an official building using of a dangerous weapon” which is a truncheon equipped with a stun gun.
During his trial, the 60-year-old was defiant, saying he was “pushed into” the Capitol building by the mob.
In a memorandum given to the judge before delivering the verdict, the prosecution said the defendant had shown no remorse for what he had done and was “seeking to make money off his bad reputation” by trying to sell copies of the famous photo with his signature. for $100 per photo.
Authorities have arrested more than a thousand people since the attack on the Capitol building, and nearly 300 of them have been sentenced to prison terms.
The harshest sentence handed down to date against one of these convicts is 14 years in prison, and it was handed down to a man with a long criminal record.
However, that is set to change on Thursday, when a court hands down a much harsher sentence against the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, Stuart Rhodes, who was convicted in November of “rebellion”. which has been a rare and extremely serious accusation for years.
Read the Latest World News Today on The Eastern Herald.
