WASHINGTON -- As they present their impeachment case against former President Donald Trump, House managers Wednesday highlighted crimes in which two Arkansans were accused after last month's Capitol insurrection.
U.S. senators watched video of Richard "Bigo" Barnett of Gravette bragging about his foray into the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Jan. 6.
They also viewed body-camera footage of rioters attacking Metropolitan Police Department officer Michael Fanone on the steps of the Capitol.
Peter Francis Stager of Conway is accused of using a pole with an American flag attached to beat a Metropolitan Police Department officer; press reports have identified the officer as Fanone.
On the second full day of the impeachment trial, lawmakers watched video of Trump's speech at his "Save America Rally" and the breaching of the U.S. Capitol that followed.
PELOSI'S OFFICE
In her presentation, House impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett, D-Virgin Islands, said the world is now "all ... too familiar with the images" of Barnett in Pelosi's office.
"If you look closely, however, at the now infamous pictures of Barnett with his feet on the desk, you might see something that you didn't notice previously," Plaskett, a nonvoting delegate, said. "He's carrying a stun gun tucked into his waistband. The FBI identified the device as a 950,000-volt stun gun walking stick."
"The weapon could have caused serious pain and incapacitated anyone Barnett had used it against," she said.
Plaskett portrayed Barnett as a member of "President Trump's mob" that day.
"Richard Barnett bragged about his actions. He was proud of the way he desecrated the speaker of the House's office," she said.
Senators were shown photos of a note Barnett had left behind, which stated: "WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN."
Barnett subsequently bragged to a reporter that he'd bled in Pelosi's office and showed off an envelope as proof of his visit.
"I left her a note on her desk. It says, 'Nancy, Bigo was here, you b*h,'" he said on video that was played for lawmakers.
Barnett faces seven charges in the riot, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
On Friday, he pleaded innocent to all seven counts in a videoconference before U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in the District of Columbia.
While Plaskett highlighted Barnett's actions, another impeachment manager, U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., emphasized the mob attacks on law enforcement officials.
ATTACK ON OFFICER
Swalwell said Fanone was one of three officers grabbed by the mob and dragged down the west Capitol steps.
"They stole his badge, his radio, his ammunition magazine and they tased him, triggering a heart attack," Swalwell said.
In an interview played for lawmakers, Fanone described what he had encountered.
"It looked like a medieval battle scene. It was some of the most brutal combat I've ever encountered. At one point, I got tased. People were yelling, 'I got one. I got one,'" Fanone said.
Stager was charged last month with one count of obstructing a police officer from his duties during a civil disorder.
SENATORS FROM STATE
Wednesday's impeachment proceedings lasted roughly eight hours, wrapping up just before 8 p.m. The trial is scheduled to resume at noon today.
U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., took notes for much of the time, watching the videos and paying attention to each of the speakers.
In an interview, Boozman also expressed concerns about the constitutionality of trying a former president.
He had expressed similar misgivings last week as well, saying: "The president is not a sitting president. We don't have a chief justice presiding."
"Impeachment's about removing from office," he said. "The president's removed from office. And so my thoughts, and I think the thoughts of many, many of my constituents is, it's a waste of time. It's a waste of money."
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., declined to discuss the impeachment trial.
In a text, his spokesman, James Arnold, said: "Senator Cotton believes that it's unconstitutional to conduct impeachment proceedings against a former president. Instead, the Senate should focus on getting Americans back to work and children back in school."
The senator's spokesman also denied a Wednesday night report about Cotton by CNN on a webpage with short items about the trial.
CNN reported: "On the afternoon of Jan. 6, Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton believed the situation at the Capitol was so dangerous that he asked one of his staffers to bring his gun to the undisclosed location where senators were being hidden from rioters, and that he was prepared to use it.
"Cotton told CNN's Jamie Gangel that afternoon during the riot that he was 'armed' and indicated that he was prepared to shoot, defend the room, if the rioters attacked and tried to get in where the senators were.
"For context, it is legal for members to have guns in the Capitol, in their office -- just not on the Senate or House floor. Cotton is a decorated soldier who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and knows how to use a gun.
"So in real time, on the afternoon of Jan. 6 -- around 2:20 p.m. -- Cotton thought the situation was so dangerous, he asked for his gun to be brought to him. That there was that kind of threat -- mortal danger."
Cotton's spokesman told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Wednesday night that "Senator Cotton did not have or request a gun that day, nor does he need one to defend himself and others under any circumstances."
Information for this article was contributed by Bill Bowden and Dale Ellis of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
