Capitol rioter tells judge he lost a six-figure job, his retirement and his credit rating
A Capitol rioter has told a judge that he lost his six-figure job, his retirement, and his credit rating after taking part in the insurrection.
Richard Barnard appeared in court on Friday for his sentencing hearing after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
“There’s nothing the court can do to me that will come even close to what I’ve lost,” Barnard told the judge, according to Politico.
Barnard entered the Capitol on 6 January alongside fellow Texan and Marine Corps veteran Jeffrey Witcher, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of entering a restricted building.
Both pleas are common plea deals for many non-violent 6 January insurrection participants, according to the Courthouse News Service.
In a video from inside the Capitol obtained by the FBI, Witcher appeared to falsely believe that he and Barnard were in the White House.
“I am in the White House! We crashed this. Our house! We did it, family, we did it! We did it! We’re in the White House!” Witcher said.
Other Trump supporters also appeared to believe they had stormed the White House, where then-President Donald Trump was living at the time.
Floridian Kenneth Kelly texted others that “patriots stormed the White House!” and “inside the White House via breaking in windows,” when he was in fact in the Capitol building.
Witcher told FBI agents that he had been so “emotional and invested” that he had become confused as to where he was. He corrected himself in a second video, saying that “we’re in the rotunda. We’re in the rotunda. Our house! Our house!”
“Hey man, don’t forget your constitutional duties,” he yelled at an officer. “Don’t forget your oath, brother. Don’t forget your oath! Do not forget your oath! You are us! You are us! You are us!”
Witcher can also be heard reprimanding someone who threw a fire extinguisher at officers.
“Don’t do that! No, no! No! These are not our enemies. No, don’t do it,” he said.
Witcher told agents that he took part in the insurrection because he believed that free speech was being stifled and that most of the US is “tone-deaf to discussion”. He added that he hoped that 6 January would be a peaceful protest that could provide avenues for debate.
Barnard also agreed to speak to the FBI after the riot. He told agents that it had felt good to be at the Congressional building, but that the experience deteriorated once he stepped inside the building.
Both Barnard and Witcher allowed the FBI to gather evidence from their phones, including items the defendants had removed.
“I’m a man of accountability, and I need to be accountable,” Witcher told District Judge Rudolph Contreras at a hearing in October. “I did enter the Capitol.”
Barnard was sentenced on Friday to 12 months probation, 30 days of home confinement, 60 hours of community service, and $500 restitution, according to the Department of Justice. Witcher was sentenced on the same day to 12 months of probation, 60 hours of community service, and $500 restitution.
