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6 Capitol police officers suspended for alleged roles in Jan. 6 riot

19 February 2021
Dan Ackermann

Six Capitol police officers have been suspended without pay and 29 are under investigation for alleged conduct related to the Jan. 6 insurrection by pro-Trump rioters, a spokesperson said Thursday.

The big picture: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said earlier this month that Congress plans to establish a "9/11-type commission" to investigate the siege and report on "the preparedness and response of the United States Capitol Police and other federal, state, and local law enforcement."

The state of play: The spokesperson said that the suspensions and investigations were related to acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman's directive to reprimand officers who did not respond properly to the riots.

  • Last month, Pittman told Congress that the Capitol police "failed to meet its own high standards" during the riots and did not take the necessary steps to address the "strong potential for violence."
  • Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said that one of the suspended officers took a selfie with one of the rioters, and that another one wore a "Make America Great Again" hat and directed people around the building, according to CNN.

What to watch: The Senate Homeland Security Committee and Senate Rules Committee will hold a joint hearing on Feb. 23 on the security failures that led to the Capitol breach.

Worth noting: "At least seven officers in five other departments across the country have come under internal investigations as their presence in Washington during the assault comes to light through social media or other means," CNN writes.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.