A report published Tuesday night sheds light on the alleged actions of some of the six Capitol Police officers facing disciplinary action for their behavior during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Documents obtained by McClatchy publicly reveal for the first time the nature of some of the alleged infractions that led to possible disciplinary action. While the department announced Saturday that disciplinary action had been recommended against six officers, the specific incidents of wrongdoing weren’t made public.
Three of the six officers allegedly took selfies with rioters. And one allegedly blabbed to a friend about the secure location to which lawmakers were evacuated during the attack.
One of the selfie-taking officers reportedly told investigators that he did so in order to identify the rioter later — but that detail came only after the FBI informed Capitol Police that the officer appeared in photos that the bureau was using to obtain an arrest warrant for one of the rioters.
The officer also didn’t use his own phone, nor did he obtain any information about the suspect. The officers who allegedly took selfies with rioters are accused of conduct unbecoming of an officer, McClatchy reported.
Another officer facing that charge became known as the “selfie officer,” McClatchy noted, because footage showed him taking photos with multiple people.
That officer told investigators he wanted to diffuse the situation, McClatchy reported.
“I can’t help what they do,” he said, according to the reported documents. “If you want to take a photo, I’m not going to say no because we are always told to interact and keep the situation calm.”
One officer accused of improper dissemination of information — for allegedly talking with a friend about the secure location to which lawmakers were evacuated within the Capitol — said he couldn’t deny the allegation.
“I can’t say one hundred percent that I didn’t do what you’re telling me I did,” the officer, a Protective Services Bureau special agent, reportedly told investigators.
The officer’s friend reportedly told Capitol Police in an interview that he and the officer had been friends for 40 years, but that the officer “says enough concerning statements that I feel like I need to do this… he’s just fallen into this cult and these beliefs.” The officer denied being sympathetic to the rioters’ cause.
