“This was not a peaceful protest. Hundreds of people came to Washington, DC, to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power,” Chief Justice Beryl Howell of DC District Court said at an hour-long hearing for the Capitol defendant, Richard Barnett, on Thursday.
Howell’s comments are some of the first from a federal district judge on the more than 150 criminal cases that resulted from the siege. His decision on Barnett also marks the first decision in a Justice Department appeal after a Washington judge denied his request to keep a suspected Capitol disturbance in prison. At least four others await decisions by district judges in Washington following appeals.
Howell made it clear that he believed the crowd was trying to prevent the federal legislative branch from fulfilling its obligations.
“We are still living here in Washington, DC, with the consequences of the violence in which this defendant would have participated,” she said.
“Outside this court … there are visible reminders of the January 6 riot and the attack on the Capitol,” said the judge, noting that she can see National Guard troops through the window of her court rooms.
Barnett is accused of entering the restricted Capitol grounds, violent entry and disorderly conduct, and for theft of public property, after allegedly receiving a letter from Pelosi’s office.
“The titles of these offenses don’t even adequately capture the scope of what Barnett is accused of doing here,” Howell said at the hearing.
Barnett’s lawyer, Anthony Siano, argued that his client should not remain in detention. And Barnett, speaking on the conference line during the hearing, said, “I have some very honest and simple explanations. I am a good man.”
Barnett was neither charged nor put forward.
Prosecutors also claim that Barnett carried a stun gun to the Capitol, after buying it days before in preparation for the pro-Trump rally on January 6. After the rally, the police searched his home and found a receipt for the stun gun, but they were unable to find the stun gun he had during the operation, prosecutors said. Barnett warned them that they would not be able to find him.
He also surrendered to the police after the rebellion, although he made an appointment to do so the day after he contacted the authorities, prosecutors added.
Barnett has a history of brandishing weapons at rallies, scaring passersby, prosecutors say.
The facts about Barnett “all together make this court very concerned that it represents a danger to the community,” said Howell.
He demonstrated his right and disregard for the law, the judge added on Thursday: “Total disrespect for the United States Constitution”.
CNN’s Rebecca Grandahl contributed to this report.