Capitol Hill rioters showed little concern about being identified


Many of the Trump supporters in Wednesday's Capitol mob were not wearing masks — a sign not just of their cavalier attitude concerning the raging pandemic, but also, perhaps, their lack of concern about being potentially identified as insurrectionists.
One notable example, cited by Facebook's Tom Gara, is Richard "Bigo" Barnett, who apparently posed in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office with his feet up on her desk and admitted to the press that he took one of her envelopes as a sort of souvenir. "It's all so surreal," Gara explained. "This guy didn't just loot Pelosi's office, he spoke on record to [The New York Times] about it and gave them his full name and age." The Washington Post's Jon Swaine added that Barnett had also reportedly "prepared for a violent death," having written on Facebook that "I came into this world kicking and screaming, covered in someone else's blood. I'm not afraid to go out the same way."
Slate's Sam Adams echoed Gara's unease about the lack of concern by the mob in protecting their identities. "These people believe they will face no consequences, and thus far they are sickeningly correct," he tweeted in apparent reference to the numerous easily-identifiable right-wing personalities in attendance, and the shockingly low number of arrests made on Wednesday.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The investigative journalism website Bellingcat has launched an effort to compile photographs and videos from the Capitol storming, not to identify people who were there but to "enable future research" as websites and owners begin to delete the images. The FBI, meanwhile, tweeted Thursday that it is "seeking to identify individuals instigating violence in Washington, D.C.," and that it's "now accepting tips and digital media depicting rioting or violence in and around the U.S. Capitol on January 6."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
The mounting tensions between Thailand and Cambodia
The Explainer Long-running border disputes are at a decade high, as protesters in Thailand demand the prime minister's resignation
-
The unravelling of 'trolls' paradise' Tattle Life
In the Spotlight Unmasking of founder sends shockwaves through toxic gossip forum
-
Codeword: June 30, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from