On Thursday, the House committee’s report probing last year’s Capitol riot broadcast a dramatic montage of short videos from January 6, 2021, bringing the painful sights from 17 months ago to a national TV audience.
The 11-minute video, which was shown during last year’s Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump for allegedly instigating the unrest, wrapped up the first hour of the committee’s first primetime session.
Another video, on the other hand, seemed to be displayed for the first time.
Videos of police personnel on the front lines of fights were included in the supposedly fresh stuff, including one officer’s astonishment at the scale of tens of thousands-strong crowd.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s staff is seen fleeing from his office in another supposedly new video (R-Calif.).The most violent images, which included assaults on police officers, were narratively similar to footage that was widely disseminated at the time.
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The clip showed protesters pushing police while yelling “heave-ho” at an entry to the west side of the Capitol most commonly used by presidents on an inaugural day, as well as images of rioters pouring through the Capitol’s bottom floor at policemen.
Some video, including the time the very first window frames, were destroyed by a rioter and security video evidence of rioters then entering the building through those windows, was previously shown during parliamentary proceedings.
CNN, MSNBC, CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox Business Network all broadcast the hearing live, giving the Democrat-led panel a chance to reignite public interest in the happenings of the day.
The next primetime hour included testimony from documentary filmmaker Nick Quested, who followed members of the far-right Proud Boys as they attacked the building, and US Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, who sustained brain damage after colliding with a flight of stairs during a battle. Despite her wounds, Edwards said she returned to the police line to assist in “hours of hand-to-hand battle” with the crowd.
“What I witnessed was nothing more than a combat scene.” It reminded me of something I’d seen in a film. My eyesight couldn’t comprehend what they were seeing. “There were officers on the ground, you know, screaming, puking,” Edwards explained.
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“I mean, I saw friends who were covered in blood.” I was slipping through people’s veins. As they fell, I was catching them. It was a bloodbath. It was a complete disaster. I’m at a loss for words when it comes to describing what I observed. Never in my darkest thoughts did I see me in the heart of war as a police officer, as a law enforcement officer.”
Edwards said she was also working with Officer Brian Sicknick, 42, who died one day after the disturbance after collapsing from a seizure.
“All of a sudden, I sense activity to my left, and I turn to see Officer Sicknick with his head in his arms, ghostly yellow, and I’m worried.” My cop alarms went off because you turn red if you’re blasted with pepper spray. “He got as pale as this sheet of paper,” she explained. “So I turned around to see what had hit him, what had occurred, and that’s when I was also sprayed in the eyes.” I was transported to another officer to be sterilized, but I didn’t get a chance because we were tear-gassed.”
President Biden told reporters earlier Thursday in Los Angeles that he believes the trial would reveal a “blatant breach of the Constitution.”
“A lot of Americans will be witnessing some of the specifics that happened for the very first time,” Biden added. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) denied a list of GOP members proposed by McCarthy, allowing only two anti-Trump Republicans, Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), both of whom wanted to remove Trump.
“This is a political circus.” On a GOP press call Tuesday, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), a strong Trump supporter, said, “This is something from a foreign nation.”
President Biden told reporters earlier Thursday in Los Angeles that he believes the hearing would reveal a “flagrant breach of the Constitution.”
During her opening remarks, Cheney stated that the Justice Department is still looking into the circumstances leading up to the disturbance, which she attributed to Trump. She called the 45th president’s tweet on Dec.
19 pushing followers to come to DC on January 6 a “pivotal” moment.”This tweet started a chain reaction. “The post prompted preparations for what happened on January 6, including by the Proud Boys, who ultimately spearheaded the Capitol attack and destruction on that day,” she said.
Cheney, the committee’s vice-chair, laid out a number of claims, which she claimed will be backed by evidence during the following sessions.”You’ll hear that President Trump was shouting and ‘really mad’ at consultants who told him he required to do more,” Cheney said, “and — aware of the rioters’ chants to hang Mike Pence — the president responded with this sentiment quote: ‘Maybe our fans have the right idea.’ Mike Pence quoted ‘did deserve it.’ “Pence declined to register swing-state electors for President-elect Joe Biden after Trump urged him to do so, claiming he lacked the authority.
Pence declined to recognize swing-state electors for President-elect Joe Biden after Trump urged him to do so, claiming he lacked the authority.
“You’ll hear about members of Trump’s administration contemplating the notion of using the 25th Amendment and removing the president of the United States,” Cheney added.
Cheney also stated that the committee would detail how Perry, who refused to cooperate with a subpoena, “consulted the White House in the weeks following January 6 to seek a possible pardon.”
Several additional Republican congressmen have asked for presidential pardons for their roles in seeking to sway the 2020 election. ” Republican lawmakers filed objections to electors from crucial battleground states just minutes before the violence, citing technical issues with election management. But those arguments, however, are doomed to fail in the Democratic-controlled House.
For their roles in the violence, the Justice Department has charged over 800 persons with a variety of offenses. Some assaulted police officers trashed offices, stole federal property — including Pelosi’s lectern — and sprayed or bludgeoned authorities with firefighting equipment strewn throughout the ancient structure.
While trying to climb through a busted-out window into the House Speaker’s Lobby, Trump voter Ashli Babbitt, 36, was brutally shot by a police officer. During the incident, three more Trump supporters died as a result of medical issues. Later, four cops and at least two alleged rioters committed themselves.
The first of six public hearings scheduled for the coming weeks was held on Thursday. The dates for the second and third hearings have been scheduled, respectively, for Monday and Wednesday exactly at 10 am.
Before the November midterm elections, the committee intends to finish its work and release a final report. Republicans are expected to retake the House of Representatives in the autumn, and they have threatened to shut down the committee if its job is not complete by the time they gain control.
“The fundamental aim of the January 6 committee is to make recommendations as to policy reforms that will avoid any additional close calls with violent and unlawful attacks on our government,” said committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) recently. As a result, we must consider bolstering our defenses against both internal political coups and violent insurgent challenges to the regime.”
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