CCTV footage from the January 6 Capitol protests captured a disturbing moment where several police officers can be seen beating an immobilized protester who was trapped in the Capitol tunnel.
As previously reported by Trending Politics News, police lines on the Capitol’s west side started to collapse after officers opted to fire tear gas towards what had been a peaceful crowd until that point. Since the wind was blowing towards law enforcement, police ended up gassing their own officers, which angered the crowd and caused chaos in police lines.
““We’ve hit em’ with a-lot of pain compliance, but you’re hitting innocent people,” one D.C. Metropolitan Police officer can be heard saying. “And not only that, we’re taking out one, and ten of them are getting more angrier,” another officer chimed in. “We’re multiplying them by hitting them.”
As part of the chaos that followed the collapse of police lines, protesters began to enter Capitol grounds at numerous entry points.
Footage shows one disturbing moment when the crowd surged forward into a tight space at the Lower West Terrace, forcing one man to become sandwiched between protesters and police. A number of Capitol and D.C. Metro police officers can be seen beating the immobilized protester with batons and a flashlight.
The blows continued even as the man pleaded with officers and was clearly unable to move backwards.
Instances of police brutality have been documented in previous January 6 footage releases.
In one clip, an officer can be seen pushing an elderly supporter down a flight of stairs.
Another clip shows police officers throwing flashbang grenades into what had been a peaceful crowd.
This past June, January 6 defendant William Pope obtained footage showing undercover D.C. Metro police officers dressed as Trump supporters while urging protesters to swarm the Capitol.
The shocking footage shows a plainclothes MPD officer climbing construction scaffolding while encouraging other protesters to do the same. He also yelled “go, go, go” and “keep moving” as protesters stood on a ledge outside the Capitol pavilion, urging them to move forward towards the building.
Police conduct on January 6 has been a key area of concern surrounding the protests and the chaos that unfolded that day.
Federal law enforcement agencies, as well as the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, have long refused to disclose the number of undercover officers who were present. Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund has stated that dozens of FBI and DHS assets were embedded in the crowd, however.