Police defending the US Capitol on Jan. 6 were speared with an electric “cattle prod,” gouged with nail-barbed clubs, and had their gas masks ripped from their heads. All those violent acts are captured in newly released videos of the attack, footage the FBI hopes will lead them to 10 men they say were behind “the most egregious assaults on Federal officers” during the day’s violence.
The FBI released 10 videos Thursday, each of which focuses on one of 10 attackers yet to be identified. All but one capture individuals directly assaulting police officers surrounded by large, surging crowds.
These videos depict deeply violent encounters.
In one, an attacker strikes a cop with a crude improvised mace or “morning star”-style weapon. FBI spokesperson Lira Gallagher told Coffee or Die Magazine that analysts believe the weapon is a broken table leg with nails driven through one end. In the video, a man swings the weapon repeatedly at a line of officers who appear to be holding their ground in a doorway and strikes one officer’s head so hard that the nail momentarily catches in the cop’s helmet until the attacker wrenches the weapon free.
In another video, an attacker who appears older than many in the crowd jabs what Gallagher called an electrified “cattle prod” at an officer as the two struggle. The buzzing of the baton’s electric elements can be heard several times as he strikes.
In a third video, a man attacks an officer by grabbing the filter on the officer’s gas mask, violently ripping the mask back and forth, twisting and jerking the officer’s head and neck. Pressed against a wall of his own fellow cops, the officer is unable to retreat or defend himself as the attacker pulls and jerks his head.
Two other videos show men spraying officers with pressurized chemicals that Gallagher identified as a discharging fire extinguisher and an irritant akin to pepper spray.
In the months since the attack, authorities have arrested more than 300 people they believe participated in the Jan. 6 riot, including 65 on charges of assaulting officers. However, the bureau called the 10 men pictured in the newly released videos among the “most violent” in the crowd that day.
Releasing pictures and videos has proved to be an effective technique for investigators. Authorities made three arrests last week based on tips from photographs and videos:
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Matt White is a former senior editor for Coffee or Die Magazine. He was a pararescueman in the Air Force and the Alaska Air National Guard for eight years and has more than a decade of experience in daily and magazine journalism.
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