The whereabouts of Richard “Bigo” Barnett’s cell phone has been a bit of a mystery since he visited the United States Capitol on January 6 and set his feet on a desk in the President’s office. Room, Nancy Pelosi.
But federal prosecutors may not need it after all.
They obtained information from Barnett’s iCloud account, according to a case filed in federal court in the District of Columbia on Friday.
“Please note that we also wish to provide you with the information received in accordance with the mandate on behalf of your client’s iCloud account,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary L. Dohrmann in an emailed letter to Barnett’s attorney, Joseph McBride from New York.
The letter was filed in the court file with a “notice of discovery”.
McBride could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Barnett, 61, of Gravette faces seven counts in connection with the Capitol Riot, including one accusing him of carrying a dangerous weapon into the building that day. This weapon was a 950,000-volt ZAP Hike ‘N Strike stun gun walking stick that Barnett purchased at Rogers’ Bass Pro Shop, authorities said.
The January 6 riot escalated following a “Stop the Steal” rally in which supporters of former President Donald Trump entered Capitol Hill and tried to prevent Congress from certifying the vote of the Electoral College, indicating that Joe Biden had won the presidential election. Five people died in connection with the riot.
Barnett rose to fame after photos of him with his feet on the desk circulated in the media. He left Pelosi a note saying “Bigo was here” and then referred to it as “biatch”, although the scribbled words sounded more like “biatd”.
The discovery material in Barnett’s case consists of 549 files, Dohrmann wrote in Friday’s letter to McBride.
It includes Capitol CCTV footage, body-worn camera footage, FBI reports, information on returned search warrants, other digital media and investigative reports, Dohrmann wrote.
Barnett’s cell phone was a sticking point for investigators. Barnett can be seen with a cell phone in hand in photographs and footage of the Capitol raid.
Barnett’s cell phone could provide incriminating evidence relating to himself or others, investigators say, and messages on his phone could indicate if he conspired with someone else to enter the Capitol on Jan.6 .
Barnett made a few changes before returning home from Washington, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Harris said during a Jan. 15 detention hearing in Fayetteville before Chief Justice Erin Wiedemann.
“He turned off location services on his phone, he only paid cash and covered his face,” Harris told court. “He then rushed home and proceeded to remove all evidence, including his phone. Make no mistake, he knew then law enforcement was going to look for him.”
Barnett used another phone to call the Benton County Sheriff’s Office to surrender, according to testimony at that hearing.
Barnett told FBI investigators they wouldn’t find anything if they searched his house.
“I assure you, I am a smart man, there is nothing there,” said Barnett, an FBI man.
Whether investigators found Barnett’s cell phone or the stun gun, it was not reflected in court records or in the hearings of the case. They did, however, find the packaging of the stun gun in his home.
At a hearing on January 29, Chief Justice Beryl A. Howell of the District of Columbia berated Barnett, ordering him to remain in jail at that time.
“The accused’s involvement in the assault on Capitol Hill and the brazen conduct inside the Capitol and the offices of the Speaker of the House constitute an obvious danger, reinforced by his previous public actions while he was armed which attracted police attention, and possession of an unknown number of firearms removed from his home prior to his surrender, “Howell wrote. “Those guns, his phone, and the stun gun were not recovered.”
Howell concluded that Barnett was a danger to the community.
“The court concludes that the accused poses a danger to the community because of his blatantly illegal conduct, pattern of armed unrest and access to firearms and weapons, such as the stun gun, which are still missing, “Howell wrote.
He is also at risk of flight, having admitted to taking evasive action by covering his face, using only cash and disabling location monitoring on his phone when he left DC, bragging to the police for having withdrawn the evidence against her home before surrendering, and her partner admitted to having a “safe house” where she met the accused on her return from DC “
Citing precedents in other accused cases on January 6, another federal judge, Christopher R. Cooper, who is now handling the Barnett case, released him on April 27 so he could return home. him in Arkansas pending trial. Barnett must stay within 50 miles of his home. He then asked permission to go to Petit Jean Mountain for a car show, but Cooper didn’t give him that much freedom.
Barnett has a status hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
Two other Arkansans were arrested in connection with the January 6 Capitol riots: Peter Francis Stager of Conway and Jon Thomas Mott of Yellville.
All three pleaded innocent.
Trials have not yet been scheduled in any of these three cases.
