A startling video out of the Capitol riots on Wednesday gave people outside of Washington, D.C., an inside look at the moments when pro-Trump rioters clashed with police to enter the building. Amid the chaos, one officer is shown crushed between pro-Trump supporters and other officers, with rioters attempting to rip his mask off as mace is sprayed.
The shocking video was shot by Jon Farina, who told CNN that the battle between police and rioters in the doorway was “constant.” “There was no talking to them,” Farina told the outlet. “They were going to get in there regardless of what was in their way…Nothing really fazed them. They just kept rotating in and out. They would say ‘We need fresh patriots.’”
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The Capitol Building clashes left five people dead, including Officer Brian Sicknick and rioter Ashli Babbitt. Each day brings new video and revelations about the events of Jan. 6, with the video linked by CNN being the latest.
Update. The officer survived. pic.twitter.com/xaWxLLnk1c
— Brendan Keefe (@BrendanKeefe) January 9, 2021
According to CNN, the officer in the video was later OK and pulled back. His identity has not been confirmed yet, but an alleged post on Reddit claims to be from the officer and updates his reported status.
“I’m OK and greatly appreciate everyone’s well-wishing. It’s also important that everyone knows it was both my and my colleagues’ privilege to defend the Capitol against insurrection, and we’ll do it as many times as necessary. I can do this all day,” the post says, quoting Chris Evans’ Captain America with the closing line. The politics subreddit noted that the identity of the officer was confirmed through the standards used for AMAs.
Much of the news out of the Capitol is flowing after the fact. Many reporters were on-site and covered what they could at the moment, but the chaos didn’t allow for the full details to be made clear. News crews on location were also threatened by Trump supporters, with some rioters destroying news equipment and assaulting photographers they claimed were “antifa.”
New details show the darker side of the assault on the Capitol, according to CNN. MSNBC host Chris Hayes ran down details that have been released since. “[It is entirely possible that there were people in that crowd, looking to apprehend, possibly harm, and possibly murder the leaders of the political class that the President, and people like Mo Brooks, and even to a certain extent Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, have told them have betrayed them.”
Authorities have started to arrest many of the rioters that grabbed headlines during the siege. That includes a Florida man photographed carrying a podium belonging to Nancy Pelosi, a rioter that is a known QAnon personality that had been photographed in a horned-headdress and a West Virginia GOP state lawmaker who resigned on Saturday.
