Thursday's unpublished images from the January 6th, 2021 violence were released by the parliamentary committee that was investigating Donald Trump's involvement in the attack on the Capitol. This hearing was highly anticipated. Many news channels broadcast the videos live, showing crowds attacking the US Congress seat. The commission believes that the former president is at the "center" of an attempted coup.>
There was a raging crowd outside the Capitol, with elected officials crawling on to the ground wearing gas masks... Trump supporters stormed the United States Congress seat after "the encouragement" from the former president. Bennie Thompson, (Democratic) chief of the commission, stated that this began a series hearings meant to prove that there was a deliberate campaign against the outcome of the 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden.
This group of elected officials, seven Democrats and two Republicans, has listened to more than 1000 witnesses, including two children from the former president. They have also analyzed 140,000 documents to uncover the facts and gestures of Donald Trump prior, during, and after the event that shook American democracy.
Bennie Thompson stated that January 6 was the culmination a coup attempt during the two-hour hearing. Donald Trump was the centre of this conspiracy. "President Trump called the crowd, assembled them, and set the fire for this attack," Liz Cheney (Republican vice chair) of the commission.
The "January 6" Commission released these shocking and violent images to support its conclusions. They were taken on a cold winter day in Washington, when thousands of Trump supporters gathered to protest the outcome of the 2020 election.
These videos show a crowd of protesters storming Congress' headquarters, calling for Vice President Mike Pence to be "hung", and one man reading Donald Trump's tweets from a megaphone amid a chaotic crowd. Bennie Thompson stated that "it was not a sightseeing tour of Capitol" referring to the Republicans who made this argument. A montage featuring Donald Trump calling protesters "peaceful" while assuring there is "love and in the air" is superimposed over some of these images.
Caroline Edwards, a police officer who was the first to be hurt by rioters on January 6, 2021 testified before the commission. She compared the Capitol's surroundings to a "war zone". She said, "I was slipping onto people's blood," and "it was carnage. It was chaos."
Nick Quested, documentarian and filmmaker, was among those who followed the far-right Proud Boys militia during the attack. He said that he was shocked at the "anger” he witnessed amongst the group's members.
Images from this hearing were broadcast live on many news channels, but they were ignored by most conservative media. This is yet another illustration of the deep political divide that divides the United States.
