Capitol riot defendants have started a jail newsletter: report

Capitol rioters being kept in a D.C. jail have reportedly started their own handwritten newsletter, NBC 4 Washington reports.

“We would all contribute to it and pass it cell to cell,” said Richard “Bigo” Barnett, one of the first rioters to be charged. “Like in any prison, things get passed.”

Barnett was initially ordered to remain in jail during his three-month pre-trial detention after a judge ruled he had “total disregard for the law and for officials’ directives.” He was released in April after it was determined that he didn’t pose enough of a risk to warrant keeping him in custody.

Those being held in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection are housed together at the D.C. jail, separately from the rest of the jail population, in an area they’ve dubbed “The Patriot Wing,” NBC 4 notes.

In addition to creating their own newsletter, the rioters reportedly boost morale by singing the national anthem out loud every morning and night.

NBC 4 investigative reporter Scott MacFarlane reiterated Barnett’s claims about his D.C. jail time on-air Thursday on MSNBC.

Barnett has become one of the most widely recognized of the Jan. 6 defendants after an image of him with his foot propped up on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) desk during the insurrection went viral.

Barnett has been charged with knowingly entering a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and theft, according to NBC 4.