Videos released under court order provide a chilling new look at the chaos at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, including body camera footage that shows a man charging at a police officer with a flagpole and tackling him to the ground. Federal judges ordered the release of the videos after media organizations, including the AP, went to court to request that the Department of Justice provide access. The videos are being presented as evidence in prosecutors’ cases against three men charged with assaulting police. The new videos show rioters crushing another officer into a door as he screams in pain. Still another video shows a man identified as Scott Fairlamb of New Jersey and others yelling at police as the officers walk through the crowd outside the Capitol. Fairlamb then shoves an officer and punches at his head, hitting his face shield.
Body camera video released in the case against former New York City policeman Thomas Webster shows the man holding a flagpole and shouting profanities at officers standing behind a metal barricade. Webster pushes the barricade and swings toward an officer with the flagpole. There's a violent scuffle, the officer manages to take the flagpole away from the man, and Webster appears to tackle the officer to the ground. Other images in court documents show Webster pinning the officer to the ground and grabbing at his face. Webster's lawyer wrote in court documents seeking his release from jail while he awaits trial that his client got upset when he saw police using pepper spray on the crowd. The lawyer, James Monroe, wrote that “as a former US Marine and a member of law enforcement, defendant's moral instinct was to protect the innocent.” (Read the full story for much more.)