The body-cam footage of a D.C. Metropolitan cop on duty during the Jan. 6th, 2021 riot has now been procured by American Greatness. It reveals the chaos that unfolded on that tragic day and how the law enforcement officials responded to the tense situation.
A police officer with over 11 years of experience, Terrence Craig, gave testimony the previous week in the criminal hearing of Richard Barnett. Barnett, who belongs from Arkansas, was the man whose photograph became popular, with both of his feet on the then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk.
The video footage, recorded by officer Craig’s body cam, is more than 150 minutes long and displays the shocking events that took place inside, and outside of the U.S. Capitol.
Because of the previously-unknown interactions between the protesters and the law enforcement officials, the House GOP members are demanding the disclosure of all the surveillance video footage recorded by Capitol security cameras on the day of the riot.
Craig’s video begins with a bunch of Capitol and D.C. Metro Police heading towards the western area of the Capitol around 2:30 p.m. The initial physical altercation took place nearly 15 minutes before that. Capitol Police used “nonlethal” weapons such as pepper balls, tear gas, and flashbangs on the protesters outside the Capitol for nearly an hour. This is the first incident in law enforcement history where several officials were told to use such threatening methods to control the crowd.
D.C. Police officials had instructions to use full riot gear which included ballistic vests, face shields, gas masks, and gloves. One of Barnett’s defense lawyers, Joseph McBride, cross-examined Craig where he confessed that the police officials were “fully geared up”.
McBride: So you’re fully geared up. You’re strapped up from head to toe?
Craig: Yes.
McBride: Ready to rock and roll?
Craig: Yes.
Craig also added that police officials were also carrying a metal “asp”, which is a collapsible baton.
The footage displays a dramatic change in the spirits of the protesters as police officials reach the scene. Craig acknowledged that as much. “[It] was peaceful heading up to the Capitol,” he told McBride. “You can hear the noise and the sounds, and you see the officers on the side.”
The crowd chanting “U.S.A.! U.S.A!”, get furious as they see the police officials dressed in military gear with their faces covered, grouping on the upper terrace of the building.
The Police officials are spraying chemicals, although the protesters are not trying to cross the line of police officers below.
Almost five minutes following the shooting of Ashli Babbitt, Craig sets foot in Rotunda at nearly 2:50 p.m. The area is buzzing with the police and protesters. One of the scenes also shows a police officer helping out an injured elderly.
Verbal and physical altercations commence in the Rotunda at around 3:10 p.m. The police officials are forcing the crowd to move out of the area “Do you feel big and strong now?” a woman questions the officers. “Does that get you off? Pushing around a bunch of women? A bunch of fucking unarmed women?”
A woman’s voice is audible claiming that she’s trying to get out of the building.
Craig then surveys the building which has some chaotic and some calm situations. A man advances toward Craig to complain to him about a police officer who snatched his cell phone and questions how he is to get it back. Craig’s replies are hard to understand as he is wearing a face shield and a gas mask. The man states “Sir, I can’t understand you,”, as he follows Craig going downstairs.
“Wait, is this the Capitol?” the man questions Craig. “Are you serious?” he answers. “I’ve never seen it,” the man states, highlighting the fact that several protesters had never actually been in the Capitol before and had no idea where to head or how to find the exit.
Later at 3:50 p.m., Craig can be seen positioning himself outside the building in the presence of a large number of police officials. The situation at that time seemed under control as the protesters chanted “We the People”.
A few police officials can be seen confronted by several protesters again. “Are y’all gonna tear gas us?” an anonymous protester yells at a line of police officials. A D.C. Metro police official nods. “It’s we the people, not we the cops,” another person screams.
Note: By that time, three individual Trump supporters had already lost their lives, more or less caused by excessive force.
Craig, along with numerous other police officials, heads back into the building unexpectedly at around 4:20 p.m. They are then rushing towards the lower terrace tunnel on the western side of the Capitol. At this place, the deadliest clashes between the protesters and the police take place. It is noteworthy that this is the same area where the police officials were beating several women that also included Victoria White.
Then, Craig can approaches the entrance of the tunnel, while angry screams can be heard in the background. “You need to stop! Stop!” an angry individual shouted at the police. Numerous individuals can also be heard asking for help as the police sprayed more chemical gas on them.
The footage also reveals a few police officials along with 3 men dragging the dead body of Rosanne Boyland from the entrance of the tunnel. Her shirt is lifted near her head and an individual is giving her CPR. The statements of the eyewitnesses and the other released footage disclosed that Boyland lost her life because of the poisonous gasses sprayed by the police officials and the beating she suffered at the hands of a D.C. Metro police officer.
“She’s fucking dead! This is on you, motherfuckers!” an individual yelled at the police officers, who kept on spraying gasses on the individuals who were trying to tend to Boyland. “This is the woman you killed, you fuckers!”
Some protesters are visible throwing different items at the front-line police officers. The footage also shows Boyland’s body getting dragged from the tunnel toward the building. Physical altercations with police officials carried on for 20 more minutes.
Craig informed McBride about his side of the events during the Jan. 6 riot. “I saw the dead young lady, and they dropped her right in front of me,” Craig explained calmly. “They just brought her and said, ‘Hey, do your job and take care of her.’”
The individuals who were a part of the altercations relating to Boyland’s brutal death were caught by the police and later charged with assault on police officials.
Boyland was pronounced dead at around 6:09 p.m. The coroner proclaimed that Boyland lost her life because of a drug overdose. However, the public evidence contradicts those claims.
The news media outlets and the Department of Justice are trying their best to control the narrative as they are trying to pin everything on protesters, and defend the deaths of 4 Trump supporters.
Several GOP members like Rep. Matt Gaetz and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are demanding the release of 14,000 hours of video footage from January 6. However, their demand has been met with a lot of resistance from law enforcement authorities. An official from the Capitol police, Harry Dunn has been criticizing the whole idea of making the videos public. “What the fuck more y’all wanna see? More terrorists beating cop’s asses?” Dunn wrote on Twitter.
The Americans want and deserve the whole truth about the ordeal of Jan. 6, 2021. They do not want the law enforcement version of the events that unfolded. The new footage from Craig’s body cam also reveals that there is so much of which the American public is not aware concerning the Capitol riot.
The individuals who were a part of the altercations relating to Boyland’s brutal death were caught by the police and later charged with assault on police officials.
This was an untrue statement unless they found and arrested the officers and charged them with Roseanne Boyland’s death. Nobody assaulted those officers. They beat her to death.
This was an inaccurate statement unless the police officers were arrested and charged with assault on Roseanne Boyland.