A man who was photographed sitting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office with his foot on her desk during the Capitol riots has been arrested, it is widely reported.
Per CNBC, Richard Barnett was apprehended in Arkansas and charged with "entering and remaining on restricted grounds, violent entry, and theft of public property".
Photographs of Barnett sat in Speaker Pelosi's office with his foot up on her desk quickly went viral as a demonstration of the chaos that was unfolding inside the Capitol on Wednesday.
Barnett, 60, is said to have bragged to reporters about how he had broken into Pelosi's office.
“I wrote her a nasty note, put my feet up on her desk,” he said, per the New York Times. "When the police came in with pepper spray, I said, ‘I paid for this, it’s mine,’ and I left.”
According to the Times, Barnett also insisted that he had merely been knocking on the door when he was pushed through by a crowd of people. However, he seemed to know that this was a story not many would believe. “I’ll probably be telling them this is what happened all the way to the D.C. jail,” he said.
Police identified Mr Barnett after comparing images published by the media to a photograph of the 60-year-old obtained via law enforcement databases, according to an affidavit signed by Special Agent James Soltes of the U.S. Capitol Police.
It has previously been reported that a growing number of the Capitol rioters have been fired from their jobs after being identified online.
One man was fired from his job at a Maryland-based for participating after he was spotted wearing his employee ID badge in the midst of the violence.
Navistar Direct Marketing, the employer of the man in question claimed in a press statement that it had been made aware of the photos and had terminated his contract.
A spokesperson for the organization wrote:
"Navistar Direct Marketing was made aware that a man wearing a Navistar company badge was seen inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, during the security breach. After a review of the photographic evidence, the employee in question has been terminated for cause.
"While we support all employee’s right to peaceful, lawful exercise of free speech, any employee demonstrating dangerous conduct that endangers the health and safety of others will no longer have an employment opportunity with Navistar Direct Marketing."