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Capitol riots: Shocking video shows mob dragging police officer down stairs and beating him with flag pole

Video was filmed ten minutes after Trump put out statement saying ‘we love you’ to the mob

Gustaf Kilander
Washington, DC
Monday 11 January 2021 11:22 EST
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Moment pro-Trump rioters storm US Capitol captured on TV broadcast

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Trump-supporting rioters dragged a police officer down the Capitol stairs and one of them beat the officer with a flag pole, a shocking video from the storming of the Capitol shows.

As one member of the mob grabbed the officer by his helmet and started dragging him down the stairs, others started beating and kicking the unnamed officer, one of the rioters used a flag pole flying the American flag to repeatedly pummel the officer on the ground.

The video quickly went viral after having been aired on CNN on Sunday, closing in on 2 million views on Monday morning.

The officer in the video has not been identified, The Washington Post reported.

The officer is believed to be a part of the Metropolitan Police and not the Capitol Police force, according to The Daily Mail.

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One officer died and over 50 were injured as the Capitol police were overrun by rioters on Wednesday. One rioter died after being shot in the neck by police in the Capitol, three others died after medical emergencies.

The video shows the brutality of the mob storming the Capitol in support of President Trump. More accounts of from inside the building on Wednesday tell a darker and more sinister story than was initially available on Wednesday as chaos reigned. 

There were members of the mob wearing tactical gear and carrying zip ties, like those police use in mass arrest situations, making observers think that some members of the mob were planning to take hostages.

Gallows were erected outside the Capitol and people are now questioning whether it was just for show.

There were calls for violence, sometimes deadly, against Nancy Pelosi, Mike Pence and others.

According to CNN, the video of the officer being beaten with a flag pole was filmed roughly ten minutes after Mr Trump tweeted out a video in which he told the rioters, “We love you. You’re very special".

There were chants of "USA, USA", "Take him out", and renditions of the Star-Spangled Banner in the crowd. Police officers standing in the archway trying to stop members of the mob to enter the building were battered with projectiles like other flag poles and metal crutches.

House Democrats say they will be ready to vote to impeach the President this week. That would make Mr Trump the only President in history to be impeached twice. 

Two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski and Pat Toomey, have called for Mr Trump to resign. Fellow Republican senator Ben Sasse has said that he would consider any articles of impeachment that the House puts forward.

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