Shocking new video shows police officer being dragged into mob during pro-Trump Capitol riot
‘You’re going to die tonight,’ rioter tells officers protecting US Capitol
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Newly released body camera footage appears to show rioters dragging police officers into the pro-Trump mob laying siege to the US Capitol during the insurrection on 6 January.
The video is part of an exhibit in a Capitol insurrection case and was released by the US Department of Justice under court order, NBC4 reported.
The violent video appears to show a rioter dragging one of the officers by their helmet or neckline down a set of stairs and into the mob.
Jack Whitton, accused of being one of the brawlers involved in the assault, allegedly told one of the officers: “You’re going to die tonight.”
He later reportedly said in a text message that he “fed [an officer] to the people”.
“[I don’t know] his status,” he supposedly wrote in the text message to a friend, concerning the officer. “And [I] don’t care [to be honest].”
Court documents state that one of the officers was left with head wounds that needed staples after rioters “ripped off his helmet, maced him, took his gas mask and MPD-issued cell phone, kicked him, struck him with poles, and stomped on him”.
A CrossFit instructor from Georgia, Mr Whitton allegedly beat one of the officers with a metal crutch and was denied bond in April with a judge declaring that he posed “a serious danger”.
Colorado resident Jeffrey Sabol was also allegedly involved in the fight. Prosecutors say he planned to flee to Switzerland but is now stuck in jail, the Washington Post reported. Court documents state that he told officers that he tried to take his own life.
An officer wearing a body camera in one of the videos released is looking out at a sea of people screaming and fighting, with the National Mall appearing in the background.
Standing at the top of a staircase, the officers in the video appear to be protecting an entrance to the US Capitol.
The video shows the officer defending himself with a collapsable stick as he’s called a “motherf***er” by an attacking rioter.
The video ends when the officer is seemingly knocked to the ground.
More than 535 arrests have been made so far in relation to the Capitol riot, with more than 300 suspects who committed violent acts on the grounds of the Capitol remaining unidentified.
More than 200 of those who remain unidentified assaulted police officers, CBS reported.
“This is far from over,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in late June. Prosecutors have called the group of cases “unprecedented” and the government said in a court filing in March that this “is likely the most complex investigation ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice”.
Court documents have been unsealed for more than 490 out of the at least 535 arrested defendants. At least 190 have also been indicted by grand juries. At least 13 defendants have pleaded guilty so far.