As the days go by following the January 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters, more videos of their transgressions keep emerging, with the latest being a disturbing recording of some of them ambushing and assaulting a D.C. police officer who was helping secure the building.
Since the emergence of that footage, scores of people on social media have called out the hypocrisy of the rioters, as a handful of pro-Trump supporters have long thrown their weight behind the police force with their “Blue lives matter” campaign as means to counter allegations of police brutality against Blacks and other people of color.
In the terrifying video highlighted by CNN, the rioters can be seen dragging the officer from a door down some stairs while he and his colleagues are trying to restrain and prevent them from entering the building. Totally ambushed and on the ground, one of the rioters can be seen repeatedly hitting him with a pole carrying the American flag while he’s also stomped on.
Responding to that particular incident, D.C.’s Acting Police Chief Robert Contee said the helpless officer was scared the rioters were going to kill him, WUSA9 reported.
“It makes me sick to my stomach just to see that video and that officer,” Contee, who revealed the officer had to hospitalized for his injuries but has been discharged, said. “Obviously, he was afraid for his life.” A separate video also showed a different officer screaming in pain and pleading for help as the rioters squeezed him between a door while attempting to enter the building.
Contee said a total of 56 D.C. police officers were injured by the rioters. “I’ve had officers that have done two tours in Iraq say that this was scarier than their time in combat,” he said.
The January 6 incident – which some lawmakers have blamed Trump for – left five people dead. One of the deceased was a Capitol Police officer.
2 Capitol Police officers suspended and several officers across the country under investigation
Meanwhile, two Capitol Police officers have been suspended, while at least ten others are being investigated for possible violation of department policies and regulations during the melee, CNN reported.
In videos that have been circulating online, a Capitol police officer was seen taking a selfie with one of the rioters in the building. Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan also said another officer was spotted wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and directing the rioters around the Capitol.
In a statement released Monday, Capitol Police acting Chief Yogananda Pittman said the department “has been actively reviewing video and other open source materials of some USCP officers and officials that appear to be in violation of Department regulations and policies. Our Office of Professional Responsibility will investigate these behaviors for disciplinary action, up to, and including, termination. Several USCP officers have already been suspended pending the outcome of their investigations.”
Other police departments across the country have also confirmed they’re investigating some officers on their force who participated in the protests and their overall involvement. An officer in New York, another in Philadelphia, one in Texas and two in Virginia as well as Seattle are all being investigated, CNN reported.
“There’s a big difference between walking down Pennsylvania Avenue and expressing yourself and going into a building where rioters pushed police and hit police and pushed them out of the way to get in,” Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, told the news outlet. “That will be the question. They just came and they marched, versus did they go inside the building and become part of a (riot).”
