One of the men who was jailed over his involvement in the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has “no regrets” about being there that day.

Richard Barnett, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump last week, was photographed in 2021 with his feet on Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s desk. Recalling the events of that day, he told Newsmax host Greg Kelly on Thursday that he’s “been through hell” but is still glad he participated.

“Oh man, what a great time to be alive. You know, I’m so happy I could be a part of it,” Barnett said.

“I’ve had a lot of anger issues to work through. I mean, I’ve been through hell,” he added. “But I’m telling you what, I wouldn’t give it back for anything.”

Barnett was convicted on multiple charges stemming from the events of the day and the infamous photo in Pelosi’s office with his feet on the “b-tch’s desk.” Charges included entering a restricted building with a dangerous weapon and theft of government property, and he was sentenced in 2023 to 54 months in prison.

“Now let me take a look at you at that desk, and by the way, this is one of the iconic images of January 6th, and some people are horrified by it,” Kelly said in the interview. “You say you’re glad all of this happened. Tell us why. How did this turn out to be a good thing in the end?”

“Myself and over 1,600 other J6ers showed up that day for Trump because he asked us to be there, and as a point in our country, I’m hoping that that was one of the reasons that the rest of America woke up and saw the corruption and destruction that was happening to our country,” Barnett replied.

“As hard as it’s been, as much as it would have been nice for it not to have happened, it had to happen. You know, I have no regrets,” he continued.

I’m considered the face of J6 to many and I care. You aren’t cutting off the spigot on us now. It’s time for truth and Justice. We have been through hell and back and we are just getting started.

— Richard Bigo Barnett (@BigoBarnett) January 31, 2025

Kelly asked the 64-year-old about being charged for stealing an envelope that was on Pelosi’s desk.

“I need to have some conversations with DOGE because that envelope anywhere else would have been about a 10-cent envelope, but apparently because the government bought it it was a $20 envelope. I left 25 cents on the – you might wanna bleep this – I left 25 cents on the b-tch’s desk,” he said.

“You know, basically to pay for that envelope ’cause I had bled on it, and I didn’t feel good about leaving it behind. They made a huge issue out of it,” he continued. “You know, I paid for it, I didn’t know that the government was wasting our money to the point the taxpayers had paid $20 for an empty envelope, you know, but so be it.”

Barnett was among the more than 1,500 people participating in the Jan. 6 events who were pardoned by Trump soon after being sworn in as the 47th president.

It’s been awhile since I made this picture. Some ask would I do it again, would I go through this again. Yes I would. For my country. For our children. I will always stand. But I never should have had to. Our own government had become our enemy. pic.twitter.com/DxA3ayrJp7

— Richard Bigo Barnett (@BigoBarnett) January 30, 2025

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Frieda Powers

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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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