The US House of Representatives began releasing almost 44,000 hours of video from the January 6, 2021 disturbance at the US Capitol on Friday. Louisiana Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson stated the move was made in the interest of “truth and transparency.”
Thousands of Trump supporters had assembled in Washington as both chambers of Congress met to certify the 2020 election for his Democratic competitor, Joe Biden, which Trump claimed was rigged. Protesters broke into the Capitol and disrupted the joint session. The Democrats have since called the disturbance a “insurrection against our democracy.”
“Today, we will begin immediately posting video on a public website and will work as quickly as possible to add nearly all of the videos to the website.”
Johnson added that the videos will be processed to blur the faces of private citizens “to avoid any persons from being targeted for retaliation of any kind” and removing an estimated 5% of the footage that “may involve sensitive security information” about the Capitol’s architecture.
“The American people deserve transparency, accountability, and real answers based on facts rather than a predetermined political narrative,” said Georgia Representative Barry Loudermilk, chair of the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight.
This is the House Republicans’ second attempt to make the January 6 footage available to the American public. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave portions of the tape to TV broadcaster Tucker Carlson in March. Carlson broadcast portions of it on his Fox News show, prompting the early release of Jacob Chansley, dubbed the “QAnon Shaman” by the media.
The video showed Chansley strolling peacefully into the Capitol with police escorting her, rather than the “violent insurgency” that Democrats – and their Republican allies – said had occurred. After that, Fox did not show any further video and fired Carlson in April without explanation.
Johnson was elected speaker last month after a number of unhappy Republicans called for McCarthy’s resignation, alleging broken pledges. Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida, who spearheaded the McCarthy uprising, praised Johnson for fulfilling his pledge, calling it “a refreshing thing in the Swamp of DC.”
The Biden administration has charged over 1,000 people with felonies and misdemeanours related to the Capitol incident. Enrique Tarrio, the proud commander of the Boys, who had not even been there, was given the longest sentence so far – 22 years behind bars for “seditious conspiracy.”
