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Barber pleads guilty to two charges from Capitol entry

This still image from closed-circuit TV at the U.S. Capitol shows Parkersburg resident Eric Barber taking a selfie in the rotunda, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. (File Photo)

PARKERSBURG — After pleading guilty to two misdemeanor counts related to his presence in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, former Parkersburg City Councilman Eric Barber is scheduled to be sentenced March 31.

In a plea hearing Thursday conducted remotely due to COVID-19 conditions, Barber, 43, admitted to entering the Capitol and stealing a portable charger from a C-SPAN media station.

“When I entered the Capitol building, I knew we weren’t supposed to be there,” he said after District Judge Christopher Cooper asked if the charges outlined against him were accurate.

Barber pleaded guilty to one count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, which carries a potential jail sentence of up to six months incarceration and a fine of as much as $5,000, according to court documents. He also pleaded guilty to theft, a District of Columbia charge for which he could be sentenced to a maximum of 180 days and fined up to $1,000.

Cooper will pronounce the sentence at a hearing scheduled for 2 p.m. March 31, which the judge said he expects to be held in person. He told Barber a disagreement with the sentence would not be grounds for withdrawing from the plea agreement.

This still image from closed-circuit TV at the U.S. Capitol shows Parkersburg resident Eric Barber, nearest the camera, searching through equipment on a stand at the C-SPAN media station, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. (File Photo)

As part of the agreement, misdemeanor counts of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building or grounds will be dismissed.

Barber also agreed to pay $500 restitution toward the $1,495,326.55 in damages to the Capitol during the riot and $52.95 to C-SPAN for the power station, which was the property of an employee who was reimbursed after its theft.

Speaking by phone Thursday after the hearing, Barber said he feels like he’ll be remembered for “pleading guilty to a federal offense” instead of overcoming a criminal past and being elected to City Council.

“It’s certainly very disappointing,” he said. “I don’t think a lot of people understand how difficult it would be to go from convicted felon to elected lawmaker and then to federal offender.”

Barber served time in prison for a felony conviction of breaking and entering in 1999. He also pleaded no contest to a charge of disorderly conduct after being arrested by Parkersburg Police in the first year of his council term.

It was not a difficult decision to enter the plea, Barber said, calling it a “very generous offer from the prosecutor’s office.”

Barber attended a Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C., at which then-President Donald Trump repeated unsubstantiated claims the 2020 presidential election had been stolen. A group of demonstrators walked to the Capitol and eventually forced their way inside, disrupting the certification of the results by Congress.

In describing the charges against Barber, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brenda Johnson referenced interviews Barber gave to local media, including a Jan. 7 story in the News and Sentinel in which he claimed he had walked up to the building and looked through the windows but did not go inside.

But in a YouTube video posted Jan. 10, “the defendant was captured on this video, inside the Capitol, wearing a green army helmet,” Johnson said. He could also be heard on a video saying “They’re giving us the building,” she said.

Closed-circuit video footage showed Barber moving through the Capitol, including the rotunda and Statuary Hall, Johnson said. In Statuary Hall, he was seen at a C-SPAN media station removing a portable charging device.

In a search conducted on March 3, “the stolen power station was observed being used in the defendant’s home, along with the green army helmet,” Johnson said.

In the interview after the hearing, Barber said he wanted to clarify his statements on Jan. 6 that Capitol Police did not immediately respond with force to people entering the building.

“That was extremely inaccurate of me to say that,” he said. “The Capitol breach had already occurred before I was even on the lawn. I wasn’t there to witness the violence of the initial assault.”

Barber said it wasn’t until he saw footage of the incident on national media that he realized the “valor and courage” the officers displayed.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.

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