HOME / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Who is Richard Barnett? Arkansas pro-Trump supporter who broke into Nancy Pelosi's office arrested

The pro-Trump supporter reportedly was carrying a flag in her office and even left a note for the house speaker before Capitol Police got hold of him

With less than two weeks until Donald Trump’s exit from office, the capitol is riddled with riots and protests as more and more pro-Trump supporters have taken to the streets and entered the house of Congress. Amid the unrest led by the attack on the Senate chamber, a Trump supporter found his way into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office and was seen posing for a picture with his legs stretched on her desk!

It was later reported that Barnett was taken into custody in his home state on charges of entering and remaining on restricted grounds, violent entry and theft of public property, according to a Department of Justice official. 

Who is Richard Barnett?

While a significant number of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol after the president's speech in Washington, where he was seen vowing “never to concede” the election, a man from Gravette, Arkansas, Richard Barnett, used the opportunity to break into Pelosi’s office. And guess what he did before getting caught by the police? 

He reportedly was carrying a flag in her office and even left a note for the house speaker before Capitol Police got hold of him. He told 5NEWS, "I threw my feet up on the desk at that point. I realized some a**holes had cut me also and I bled on her envelope, so I picked up the envelope and put it in my pocket, and I put a quarter on the desk cause I'm not a thief.” Barnett is now facing potential federal charges for storming the US Capitol building.

This isn’t the time first Barnett has taken to the streets to show his opposition to the government as he had previously caught the attention of the media by taking part in a March against the mask mandate in July in Bentonville. He was among many who said the government shouldn’t tell them “how to live”, despite surging cases from the coronavirus. 

Expressing his opinion on the mask mandate, Barnett had said in a statement, "I think the government is here to protect our Constitution, not to protect our health. It is our right and our responsibility to take care of our own health. The government needs to do its job.”

The unrest in the Capitol took place briefly after Trump said that the presidential election was fraudulent. The police have evacuated the Senate chamber and Vice President Mike Pence has been taken to a secure location. A woman was shot in the chaos and by afternoon nearly 13 had been arrested.