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As Left Tries to Paint Everyone at Capitol on Jan. 6 as a Domestic Terrorist, GOP Senator Exposes Security Footage That Tells a Much Different Story

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Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican, has been conducting a review of security footage recorded on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol building.

Footage that showed over 300 unauthorized individuals entering the Capitol building through the upper west terrace doorway, while five U.S. Capitol Police officers stood nearby, caught the senator’s eye.

Alarmed by what he discovered, Johnson sent a letter to the acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, Yogananda Pittman, on Thursday demanding some answers.

He detailed the periods leading up to and directly after this surge of people gained access to the building. He wrote, “At approximately 2:26 p.m. on January 6, a security camera showed a male inside the Capitol attempting to open one of the upper west terrace doors to exit the building.”

“This unauthorized individual, who was by himself at the time, walked through a narrow hallway to the double doors and attempted to exit through the left door by pushing the door’s crash bar. The door did not open and the individual turned around and walked back through the hallway and away from the doors.”

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“Approximately seven minutes later, at 2:33 p.m., security footage showed five unauthorized individuals walking down the same hallway, past a police officer,” Johnson wrote.

“The security footage, which did not include audio, appeared to show the police officer gesturing toward the doors as these individuals walked past him. Once at the double doors, one of the five individuals pushed the left door’s crash bar and this time, it opened. All five individuals exited the building at approximately 2:33 p.m.”

“As the fifth individual exited through this left door of the upper west terrace doorway, it remained ajar for a moment allowing people from the outside of the building to gain entry into the Capitol,” the senator continued. “At 2:34 p.m., as people began to enter through this door, the police officer who was in the vicinity of this door one minute earlier, walked into another hallway away from this door and out of the view of the security camera.”

“At 2:35 p.m., five police officers who were not wearing riot gear or carrying any protective equipment, such as shields, arrived at this doorway. As soon as these officers approached the doorway, they appeared to form a thin line across the narrow hallway, blocking people from continuing to enter the building at this location,” Johnson wrote.

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“About a minute later, four unauthorized individuals, including two people wearing helmets, pushed past the officers’ line and a surge of people entered the building walking past the officers. These police officers did not appear to take any further action to stop or block people entering the building until a few minutes later.”

“At 2:40 p.m., the same five police officers once again approached the same upper west terrace doorway and formed a line stopping the surge of people. For the next several minutes, it appeared that the officers and the people gathered in the doorway exchanged words,” the senator stated. “Without any audio, it is unclear what was said, but it did not appear that either the police officers or the individuals closest to the doorway were aggressive or violent.”

“At 2:42 p.m., it appeared that at least one individual in the crowd outside of the doorway began to push people toward the doorway causing the individuals closest to the doors to move toward the officers. The officers took a step back, but still maintained the integrity of their line for another two minutes.”

“At 2:44 p.m., around the time that Ashli Babbitt was shot, security footage showed one of the five police officers at this upper west terrace doorway looking over his shoulder toward the interior of the Capitol building,” Johnson continued. “At that point, this officer appeared to say something to another officer standing in front of him. Both officers, followed by their three other colleagues, appeared to slowly retreat from the doorway, allowing a surge of people to, once again, enter the building.”

“Security footage then showed an increase of law enforcement officers outside of the building directly in front of this doorway. At 2:47 p.m., law enforcement closed these doors. Over the span of this 14-minute period, it appeared that approximately 309 unauthorized individuals entered the Capitol through the upper west terrace doors.”

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The senator had several questions for Pittman and indicated he expected her response by June 24. He first wanted to know if she agreed with his assessment of events. Also, the senator noted that, according to the U.S. Capitol Police, approximately 800 unauthorized people had entered the building on Jan. 6. Johnson wrote, “If that estimate is not correct, what is the current estimate and why has it been revised?”

He asked Pittman if the five officers seen in the footage had “filed detailed reports of this incident.” If so, he asked for copies of the reports and if not, he requested the opportunity to interview the officers involved.

It’s heartening to see a Republican looking for answers because all indications are that the Biden administration has not been forthcoming about the events that took place on Jan. 6.

GOP Rep. Devin Nunes of California estimated the administration is holding back approximately 14,000 hours of security footage.

Nunes spoke to Newsmax’s Greg Kelly on Tuesday, saying, “House Republicans — we still haven’t seen the videotapes. There’s supposedly 14,000 hours of videotapes from inside the Capitol. Now, why is that? Why do we not have that? Why do we not have an accounting of the dozens of people that actually broke the windows versus the people who just walked in openly because the Capitol police let them in?”

American Greatness’ Julie Kelly has followed this story very closely. According to Kelly, “There’s only one reason why the Justice Department wants to keep the footage under seal: it contradicts most if not all of the claims advanced by Democrats and the media over the past four months.”

Last month, Kelly published an amazing video showing Jan. 6 protesters speaking with U.S. Capitol Police officers inside the Capitol building. One officer can be heard telling them, “We’re not against … here’s what you need to show. You understand? Then show us no attacking, no assault — remain calm.” This blows a rather large hole in the Democrats’ Capitol insurrection story and makes the U.S. media look like Pravda.

The officer, “identified in the video and confirmed by charging documents as Officer Keith Robishaw, appears to tell [Jacob Chansley’s] group they won’t stop them from entering the building,” according to Kelly.

In the footage, a man identified by Kelly as William Watson takes a microphone and tells protestors, “Listen up. The police here are willing to work with us and cooperate peacefully like our First Amendment allows. Gather more Americans under the condition that they will come and gather peacefully to discuss what needs to be done to save our country … We’re going to be heard. Everybody, this must be peaceful.”

Then, Jacob Chansley, better known as the man wearing the Viking horns — or the “QAnon Shaman” as he has since come to be identified as — shouts to the others, “This has to be peaceful. We have the right to peacefully assemble.”

Kelly reported that Chansley faces several counts for trespassing and disorderly conduct. He reportedly has no criminal record, yet he remains in jail.

According to Kelly, “The video directly contradicts what government prosecutors allege in a complaint filed January 8 against Chansley: ‘Robishaw and other officers calmed the protestors somewhat and directed them to leave the area from the same way they had entered. Chansley approached Officer Robishaw and screamed, among other things, that this was their house, and that they were there to take the Capitol, and to get Congressional leaders.'”

She said he was later seen “entering the Senate chambers with a police officer behind him; he led several protesters in prayer and sat in Vice President Mike Pence’s chair.”

There’s no doubt that Democrats are trying to maintain the narrative that lawless Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, and that former President Donald Trump incited a violent insurrection.

The surveillance videos will likely show that, once again, Democrats promoted a fictional story for political benefit.

Several days ago, we learned from an inspector general report that U.S. Park Police cleared protesters from Lafayette Park last June so that contractors could install a safety fence to protect the White House from rioters. The widely reported story that Trump ordered police to clear the area ahead of his visit to the riot-damaged St. John’s Church was fake news.

Just like the story that Russia offered to pay bounties to members of the Taliban to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan turned out to be a lie.

I’ve said it before: The biggest threat to America right now is the Democratic Party.

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Elizabeth writes commentary for The Western Journal and The Washington Examiner. Her articles have appeared on many websites, including MSN, RedState, Newsmax, The Federalist and RealClearPolitics. Please follow Elizabeth on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Elizabeth is a contract writer at The Western Journal. Her articles have appeared on many conservative websites including RedState, Newsmax, The Federalist, Bongino.com, HotAir, MSN and RealClearPolitics.

Please follow Elizabeth on Twitter.




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