- Riot defendant
Richard Barnett said he won't shave his beard until others are pardoned. - He seemed driven by Trump saying at a rally that he'd consider pardons for rioters if re-elected.
A man who was pictured with his feet up on a desk in
Richard "Bigo" Barnett, who is accused of joining the riot on
"I have a court hearing this morning," he wrote. "Court artist will get to sketch the new growth of my beautiful goatee. I started it in prison and will continue to grow it until all my fellow #J6politicalprisoners are free."
—Richard Bigo Barnett (@BigoBarnett) February 1, 2022
The tweet came after former President
Barnett's tweet also echoed Trump's statement last September that his "heart is with those standing for rioters," and describing them as "persecuted."
Barnett leapt into the public consciousness after January 6 when a press photo of him lounging in the House Speaker's office amid the chaos was published widely.
The image — in which his beard is closely-cropped — gained him such notoriety that in June last year he began auctioning off signed copies of the photo.
FBI investigators cited the images in their complaint accusing him of entering restricted grounds with a weapon, violent entry and disorderly conduct, and theft. He pleads not guilty on all counts.
Barnett — a self-described white nationalist — has remained unrepentant throughout his trial process. During a court hearing last year, he yelled "it's not fair!" at the news of his pre-trial detention, as The Daily Beast's Pilar Menendez reported at the time.