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Barber speaks after Jan. 6 pardons

PARKERSBURG — A local man convicted of misdemeanor charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol said he is thankful for the pardons issued by President Donald Trump but it won’t change his experience.

“It really won’t change my life either way,” said Eric Barber, a former Parkersburg City Council member who pleaded guilty in December 2021 to one count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building and one count of theft. “It doesn’t erase the experiences I had to endure by a weaponized Department of Justice.”

The pardons, which Trump issued after being inaugurated for a second term Monday, “meant something to a lot of other people” whose sentences hadn’t been completed or still faced charges, Barber said.

After a speech by Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, in which he repeated unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, supporters marched to the Capitol, where Congress was certifying the results of the November 2020 general election in which Democrat Joe Biden defeated Trump.

A number of them – some armed with poles, bats and bear spray – overwhelmed law enforcement, shattered windows and sent lawmakers and aides running into hiding.

Barber was at the speech and went to the Capitol, where court documents say closed-circuit footage and images and videos shared on social media showed him inside.

He was sentenced in June 2022 to 45 days in prison on the parading, demonstrating or picketing charge and two years probation on the theft count. The latter was the result of him taking a charging station from a C-SPAN media stand inside the Capitol.

Barber later served a total of seven days – the length of the sentence suspended for probation on the theft charge – after violating the terms of his probation. He acknowledged traveling for a job involving stock car racing without supervision and continuing to utilize a medical marijuana product prescribed by his doctor.

Barber said he also was placed on home confinement for several months as his case played out, causing him to have to find a new job.

Although he was charged with misdemeanors, Barber said federal law enforcement officials “came to my house like it was Waco, Texas,” to arrest him and his family was traumatized by the experience.

“The Department of Justice needs to be held to account,” he said, adding they owe the Jan. 6 defendants and their families an apology “at the bare minimum.”

Barber said he believes Democratic officials left security low on Jan. 6 in hopes of creating conflict. He acknowledged there has been no proof provided that “agents provocateur” helped incite what happened but said it has not been disproven either.

Asked how he views Jan. 6, 2021, and his actions that day now, Barber said he preferred to look toward the future and Trump’s administration.

“We should be looking forward to success, not looking back and (placing) blame,” he said.

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