Capitol rioter who stormed Nancy Pelosi’s office argues he’s not a threat because he called her a ‘biatch’ and not a ‘b***h’ ‘which is less offensive’
- Lawyers representing Richard ‘Bigo’ Barnett, 60, claim in court documents he wrote ‘biatch’ in a note he left Democratic Sen. Nancy Pelosi, not ‘b****’
- They claim the government purposely distorted the verbiage of the note to keep him detained before his trial
- The lawyers said the term ‘biatch’ is less offensive, and attached a definition saying it is used as a term of endearment
- Barnett was arrested in Bentonville, Arkansas in January
- He faces charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct
Richard ‘Bigo’ Barnett was arrested for his role in the Capitol riots on Jan. 8
Lawyers for the man who was seen with his foot on Democratic Senator Nancy Pelosi’s desk at the Capitol riots are now claiming in court documents that he is not a threat to society because he used the word ‘biatch’ and not ‘b****’ in his letter to the senator.
In a motion defense attorneys Joseph McBride and Steven Metcalf filed in federal court on Friday, they argue Barnett should be released from custody before the trial, in part because the government misrepresented the words 60-year-old Richard ‘Bigo’ Barnett left for the senator.
The government is claiming the letter read, ‘Hey Nancy, Bigo was here b****’,’ but the defense attorneys are arguing it actually said, ‘Hey Nancy, Bigo was here ‘biatd.’
‘On information and belief, the ‘d’ was meant to be two letters a ‘c’ and ‘h; with the ‘c’ connected to the ‘h’ to spell ‘biatch,’ which is a slang and less offensive word for b****,’ the lawyers write.
Barnett was able to get into Sen. Nancy Pelosi’s office during the raid
He went through the Democratic senator’s mail and left her a message
Defense attorneys representing Barnett are now claiming he wrote ‘biatch’ instead of ‘b****,’ which they said is not as bad
They included a link to a definition for the term from FreeDictionary.com in their motion. The website defines ‘biatch’ as ‘rude slang, a variant of b**** used as a term of endearment or disparagement from another person.’
‘As such,’ the motion continues, ‘Richard now asks this court to look past and ultimately disregard the government’s distorted representations, which do not rise to the level of showing ‘dangerousness’ and grant Richard pretrial release as required by law.’
The claim directly contrasts a video taken after the raid in which Barnett, of Arkansas, could be seen proudly proclaiming that he wrote, ‘Nancy, Bigo was here b****.’
But the lawyers representing Barnett in federal court further claimed in their motion on Friday that the government purposely distorted the verbiage of the note because it could not legally keep him detained.
‘The government’s misrepresentation of Exhibit 7 is its latest deliberate attempt to mislead this court by casting Mr. Barnett in the worst possible light in order to ensure that pretrial release is not granted in this case,’ the lawyers wrote in the motion.
‘The government has also utterly failed in demonstrating a specific articulated future threat of danger to the community.’
Barnett did not coordinate or plan the attack on the Capitol, they argue, and alleged the stun gun he is said to have carried was really just a ‘collapsible walking stick.’
The two lawyers are now asking for him to be released until his trial on federal charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct.
Barnett was arrested for his role in the riots on Jan. 8 in Bentonville, Arkansas, and has remained in a federal detention center in D.C. ever since.
He is due in court on May 4.
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