More Than 1,000 Assaults On Officers In Jan. 6 Capitol Siege: Prosecutors
By a Biometrica staffer
Approximately 1,000 assaults occurred on federal officers during the Jan 6 Capitol insurrection, prosecutors recently said. A court filing highlighted that they had uploaded 2,900 videos from bodycams worn by police, with a total length of around 2,300 hours, The Hill reported.
Federal officers said that there was a lot more relevant footage available, and as many as 7,000 hours of footage could be uploaded in the coming weeks. Over 570 people have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection, in which a mob attempted to violently disrupt the certification of the 2020 election. The Department of Justice has said that 175 individuals have already been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers.
“Based on a review of the body-worn-camera footage conducted by our Office, the footage displays approximately 1,000 events that may be characterized as assaults on federal officers,” wrote Emily Miller, an assistant U.S. attorney and the Capitol Breach Discovery Coordinator.
Further, the Associated Press has reported that extremist groups, including the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, have made plans to attend a rally at the Capitol around Sept. 18 to protest the prosecutions that have resulted from January’s riot.
This has led officials to consider whether a larger perimeter fence is needed around the Capitol, as had been done in the aftermath of the January insurrection. The final decision on the fence will be taken by the Police Board.
“After January 6, we made Department-wide changes to the way we gather and share intelligence internally and externally. I am confident the work we are doing now will make sure our officers have what they need to keep everyone safe,” said Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger. He added that officials were “closely monitoring September 18 and we are planning accordingly.”
While planning for the Sept. 18 event is underway, investigations into the January insurrection are moving forward on different fronts. A House committee investigation into the siege has asked telecommunications and social media companies to preserve any communications from Jan. 6 that may have happened between those involved in the violence.
While the committee has not yet asked for these communications, it requested companies to confidentially preserve them for the moment, just in case. A total of 35 technology companies fall under the umbrella of the requests made.
The request included the “content of communications, including all emails, voice messages, text or SMS/MMS messages, videos, photographs, direct messages, address books, contact lists, and other files or other data communications.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has also released fresh video of the incident, seeking the public’s help in identifying the individuals captured on camera, a measure that has yielded success with other alleged rioters.
“The FBI is grateful for the tips we have received from the public over the past seven months about violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, and we continue to request the public’s help to identify individuals suspected of assaulting members of the media that day,” said Steven M. D’Antuono, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.