FBI releases footage of assaults on officers during Capitol attack
18 March 2021
The FBI's Washington Field Office on Thursday released footage of assaults on federal officers during the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol by a predominately pro-Trump mob.
Why it matters: Federal prosecutors say the massive undertaking to charge suspects in the attack — which the FBI has labeled an act of domestic terrorism — is "likely the most complex investigation ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice. "
The FBI has so far arrested over 300 people who participated in the Jan. 6 attack. 65 of those arrested were charged with assaulting police officers. Video footage released on Thursday shows suspects who have not yet been identified.
- “The FBI is asking for the public’s help in identifying 10 individuals suspected of being involved in some of the most violent attacks on officers who were protecting the U.S. Capitol and our democratic process on January 6,” Steven M. D’Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, said in a statement.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly 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.