OAN host and guest defend Jan. 6 participant who sat at Pelosi's desk, instead put blame reporters and Capitol Police
Dan Ball: “Reporters – I mean, because this sounds more and more like a setup”
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From the July 29, 2021, edition of Real America with Dan Ball
DAN BALL (HOST): I know you're doing your due diligence for your client, and I know folks are going to remember your client, we have the pic up on the screen. So famously, he was the gentleman that went into Speaker Pelosi's office and kicked his feet up and said, you know, this is our desk, it's our House. And I can see when you're frustrated about an election, when you're frustrated about corruption happening in this country where you'd want to go kick your feet up and take a smart-ass picture like that.
JOSEPH MCBRIDE (ATTORNEY): Sure.
BALL: I got to admit, I probably felt like doing it myself. I don't know if I would do it, but I felt like it.
MCBRIDE: I do, I do understand. And lots of other people understand as well. What we saw last year during the BLM and antifa riots for one reason or another, repeatedly when there were calls to have these people locked up for their violence, for the burning of government buildings and torching of businesses and ruining od people's lives and occupying swaths of entire cities, we were told by politicians and by the media that because their intent was rooted in the First Amendment and political speech, that they get a pass. However, we do not see that same application of law to fact here. Here we have a situation where Trump supporters, people who did not vote for President Biden, people who objected to the election and thought that the whole thing stunk, went down to D.C. to exercise their First Amendment right to petition the government for redress.
Here's the problem. Whether you are violent or peaceful that day, if they can get you on camera at somewhere, they will cancel you in the workplace, they will fire you from your job, and they will throw you in D.C. Gitmo absent any trial for an un – for God knows how long in order to get information from you, break your spirit, and get you to plea. And then when they get you to plea, they're going to make you bow to the king. You're going to say, I accept – I accept Joe Biden as my president of the United States. I accept this. I accept that. And if you do not bow to the king, they will hit you over the head with even a greater sentence. This is disgusting. It is un-American and it is wrong.
BALL: Your client, Richard Barnett, was Mr. Barnett. Is there any video evidence that the government's given you to show that he was violent or did destruction? Because from what I remember with his case and when it first broke and they identified him and before he probably hired you, when it all broke on who he was and the identity came out, CNN, everybody blasting him, I recall something being put out that he literally just walked in, sat down, did the picture, and that was it. Was there that was there any violence? Was there any destruction or was it just simply the criminal trespass going in and taking the pic?
MCBRIDE: You know, we argue that it may not even be a trespass because of trespass requires volition. And he was pushed in through open doors. We have it on video where he's saying they're pushing, they're pushing, oh man, we're going in, I guess there's no turning back now. He gets pushed in. He winds up in Speaker Pelosi's office, no signage on the door. The doors are wide open. He walks into reporters, who are there from the AFP, waiting in the office surrounded by other people. They say, hey, do you know where you are? I don't know where I am, but you're in Speaker Pelosi's office. How about you sit down and take a picture and act natural, sits down, takes a picture, a cell phone in his hand. He obviously didn't take the picture himself. And the rest is history.
BALL: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. Let me interrupt. Joseph, hold on. Reporters – I mean, because this sounds more and more like a setup. I didn't know these details here. Who were these people with who took the picture?
MCBRIDE: You know, if you just – a quick Google. I don't want to give names because I'm actively litigating the case.
BALL: Of course.
MCBRIDE: A quick Google search of the images, of the Getty Images, they actually license these images and they're selling them themselves. A quick Google search of the two reporters who were there will produce their names very quickly. Yes, they were there. Was it a setup? Very likely a setup. Reporters in the building; the doors are open; offices awaiting people in. When people try to exit, they bar the exits so as to toll the time and keep them there for a greater amount of time, then they mace people, they push people, they go at it with people. And then finally, people leave in a frenzy because of a situation that went from peaceful to agitated because of the Capitol Police. It's on video. The whole world is going to see it. I feel bad for the people who are playing out now because they're there in fear of what's going on. I don't blame them, but the truth and the light and the spirit of justice will prevail over this evil, darkness, and bitter spirit of revenge in the end.