Richard “Bigo” Barnett, one of the more infamous protesters from the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, is neither a flight risk nor a “danger to the community” and should be released from prison pending his appeal, his attorneys argued in a newly filed court document.
Barnett, 64, of Gravette has asked a U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., for release because, his public defender contends, “there is a very serious risk that Mr. Barnett is already overserving the sentence he would receive if his appeal succeeds.”
Barnett is currently scheduled for release on Oct. 15, 2026. He is incarcerated in a federal prison in Seagoville, Texas.
Barnett became notorious for a picture in which he posed with one foot propped on a desk in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s Capitol office during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot protesting the presidential election of Joe Biden over Donald Trump.
In a court filing Wednesday, Barnett’s attorney, A.J. Kramer, noted that the government has argued that, if released, Barnett would be a flight risk and a danger to the community.
“But the conclusion that Mr. Barnett does not present a risk of flight or a danger to the community has only gotten stronger since this Court’s initial decision,” Kramer countered. “Mr. Barnett voluntarily self-surrendered to serve his term of incarceration, has not picked up a single violation of [federal Bureau of Prisons] rules while imprisoned, and has participated extensively in BOP programming.”
Kramer said the upcoming presidential election between former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris “certainly does not justify keeping [Barnett] incarcerated beyond the sentence he is likely to receive” in response to his appeal.
Barnett contends a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling should negate his obstruction conviction. But even if that charge is dismissed, Barnett still has other convictions affecting his concurrent 4.5-year prison sentence.
Arguing against his early release recently, the prosecution cited the nation’s current political climate and the danger of further misdeeds by Barnett. “Given his conduct on January 6, 2021, rhetoric and behavior throughout the criminal justice process, Barnett cannot show that now, as we are immersed in another hotly contested presidential election year, he would not encourage and engage in such conduct again,” a prosecutor argued.
But Kramer said Barnett “has no desire to return to Washington, D.C., and this Court is free to make staying away from the city a condition of his release in order to reduce any concerns about recidivism.”
Barnett, convicted in May 2023, was not accused of violence, but prosecutors said he carried a high-voltage stun gun attached to a walking staff into the Capitol.
Felony charges against Barnett included obstruction of an official government proceeding; interfering with a police officer during a civil disorder; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous or deadly weapon; and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon.
Jurors also convicted Barnett of entering and remaining in certain rooms in a Capitol building; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; theft of government property; and parading or demonstrating in a Capitol building.