Attorneys for Richard “Bigo” Barnett, 60 who was pictured with his feet on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk during the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, asked U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper to give their client permission to attend a classic car show in Arkansas, because the “lifelong hobby” is his primary source of income, according to court documents obtained by the Daily Beast.
As a condition of his pretrial release, Barnett is not allowed to travel more than 50 miles without the court’s permission. In a motion filed on Monday, his lawyer, Joseph McBride, argued that since he was terminated from his job as a window salesperson his hobby, which involves buying and selling classic cars is now his main source of income.
“This is the only way that he has the opportunity to make ends meet, provide for his family and pay for his legal defense,” his lawyer wrote.
Because of the 50 mile limit McBride says his client is unable to travel outside rural Arkansas “to buy inventory that he must inspect, appraise, negotiate and purchase in person.”
Federal prosecutors, however, opposed the request, arguing Barnett previously had a “civil dispute” at a classic car show, The Daily Beast reports.
Barnett was a member of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6. Images of him reclining in a chair with his feet up on the desk of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were widely shared and quickly became one of the most recognizable photos from that day.
He was arrested in his home state of Arkansas in January and has been charged with entering and remaining on restricted grounds, violent entry and theft of public property, disrupting official proceedings, disruptive and disorderly conduct and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building, according to court records.
