DC Chief Federal Judge burns Capitol Riot suspects and keeps man in Pelosi’s office in jail

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“It was not a peaceful protest. Hundreds of people came to Washington, DC, to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power,” Chief Justice Beryl Howell of the DC District Court said in a hearing Thursday. an hour for Capitol Riot defendant Richard Barnett.

Howell’s remarks are among the first by a Federal District judge in the more than 150 criminal cases that have resulted from the siege. His ruling on Barnett also marks the first ruling in a Justice Department appeal after a Washington magistrate judge denied his request to keep a suspected Capitol riot in jail. At least four others are awaiting decisions from district judges in Washington after appeals.

Howell made it clear that she believed the mob was trying to prevent the federal legislature from carrying out its duties.

“We still live here in Washington, DC, with the consequences of the violence in which this accused allegedly participated,” she said.

“Just outside this courthouse … are visible reminders of the January 6 riot and assault on the Capitol,” the judge said, noting that she could see troops from the National Guard from the window of their courthouse apartments.

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Barnett is accused of entering the restricted Capitol grounds, violent entry and disorderly conduct, and theft of public property, after allegedly taking a letter from Pelosi’s office.

“The titles of these offenses do not even properly capture the scope of what Mr Barnett is accused of doing here,” Howell said at the hearing.

The judge noted that Barnett boasted to a reporter that he wrote “a bad mark, put my feet on his desk and scratched my balls” in Pelosi’s office. Barnett’s attorney said he had not seen the report of this quote from his client in the Washington Post.

Barnett’s attorney, Anthony Siano, has argued his client should not continue to be detained. And Barnett, speaking on the conference line during the hearing, said, “I have a very honest and straightforward explanation. I’m a good man.”

Barnett was neither arrested nor pleaded.

Prosecutors also allege Barnett carried a stun gun on Capitol Hill, having purchased it days before in preparation for the pro-Trump rally on January 6. After the rally, law enforcement searched his house and found a receipt for the stun gun, but could not find the stun gun he had during the raid, prosecutors said. Barnett had warned them that they couldn’t find him.

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He also surrendered to law enforcement after the riot, though he made an appointment to do so a day after coming into contact with authorities, prosecutors added.

Barnett has a habit of wielding guns at rallies, scaring passers-by, prosecutors say.

The facts about Barnett “all together make this tribunal very concerned that it poses a danger to the community,” Howell said.

He showed his right and his contempt for the law, added the judge Thursday: “A total contempt for the American Constitution”.

CNN’s Rebecca Grandahl contributed to this report.

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