Three violations for “conduct unbecoming,” one for “failure to comply with directives,” one for “improper remarks,” and one violation for “improper dissemination of information”: This was the alleged work of Capitol police officers, the Washington D.C.-based police force announced on Saturday as part of 38 internal investigations into the deadly attack on the Capitol January 6. Disciplinary action was recommended in the six cases, and another case involving an official accused of "unsatisfactory performance and conduct unbecoming is still pending,” Capitol Police announced.
“This week, the USCP provided the Department of Justice the administrative cases as part of the ongoing discovery production in the prosecution of the January 6 rioters,” Capitol Police wrote in a news release of the announcement. ”Officer names, witness names, and complainant names were redacted.” The Department, however, is “committed to accountability when officers fail to meet the standards governed by USCP policies and the Congressional Community's expectations,” police added.
“The six sustained cases should not diminish the heroic efforts of the United States Capitol Police officers,” Capitol Police said. “On January 6, the bravery and courage exhibited by the vast majority of our employees was inspiring.”
Capitol Police had more than 1,200 workers on duty during the riot incited when former President Donald Trump called for his supporters to block Congress from certifying then-President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick was beaten on video and killed in the process. One Capitol Police officer and three D.C.Metropolitan Police Officers killed themselves after the attack, and more than 570 suspects have been charged in connection to the riot, The Hill reported.
WARNING: This video contains footage of violence that may be triggering for some viewers.
When Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone testified before Congress that Trump supporters almost killed him in a violent beating that January day, he was thanked with a threatening voicemail message from an anonymous sender.
The caller said in his disgusting message:
"Yeah, this is for Michael Fanone, Metropolitan Police officer. You're on trial right now, lying and not. You want an Emmy? An Oscar? What are you trying to go for here? You're so full of s---, you little f----- f---er. You're a little p----, man. I could slap you up the side of your head with a backhand and knock you out, you little f-----.
"You're a punk f-----. You're a lying f---. How about all that scummy Black f---ing scum for two years destroying our cities and burning 'em and stealing all that s--- out of the stores and everything? How about that? Assaulting cops and killing people? How about that, you f---er?
"That was s--- on the goddamn Capitol. I wish they would have killed all you scumbags, 'cause you people are scum. They stole the election from Trump and you know that, you scumbag. And you, f---ing too bad they didn't beat the s--- out of you more. You're a piece of s---. You're a little f--, you f---ing scumbag."
Fanone asked CNN not to censor the audio when the network played it. "This is what happens to people that tell the truth in Trump’s America,” Fanone said.
The NAACP, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, and the civil rights legal firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll filed a suit against the former commander-in-chief in federal court. NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement in February that Trump needs to be held accountable both "for deliberately inciting and colluding with white supremacists to stage a coup" and for "his continuing efforts to disenfranchise African-American voters." “The insurrection was the culmination of a carefully orchestrated, months-long plan to destroy democracy, to block the results of a fair and democratic election, and to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of African-American voters who cast valid ballots,” Johnson added.
What’s worse, only time will tell how successful insurrectionists truly were. “It's how we react to that line being crossed that will determine whether they'll try again," Atlantic magazine contributor Zeynep Tufekci, who has lived through four coups in Turkey, told NPR.
There's another rally dubbed "Justice for J6" planned for September 18, and officers have said violent rhetoric about the rally increased after a rioter was shot and killed attempting to breach the Capitol in January, CNN reported. "After January 6, we made Department-wide changes to the way we gather and share intelligence internally and externally," Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said in a statement CNN obtained. "I am confident the work we are doing now will make sure our officers have what they need to keep everyone safe."
Published with permission from Daily Kos.
