Three years after the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, new videos are still emerging. Security camera footage from Punchbowl News shows just how close rioters were to lawmakers during the breach of the Capitol building.
House Democrats in safety hoods can be seen frantically storming out of the third-floor gallery of the Capitol, guided to safety by a U.S. Capitol police officer. Thirty seconds later, three rioters rush the same hallway, narrowly missing an encounter with the lawmakers.
Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H., one of the members who escaped, had access to the security video for over a year. According to Punchbowl News, Kuster chose not to release it for security reasons and due to the Jan. 6 Committee’s jurisdiction. However, after Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson released all of the Jan. 6 footage, Kuster believed it was time the video was seen.
The new footage came just before a speech from President Joe Biden on Friday, Jan. 5, where he outlined what he believes is at stake in the next election.
“Whether democracy is still America’s sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time. And it’s what the 2024 election is all about,” Biden said.
Administration officials say the address will serve as a “dire warning” about the threat Biden believes former President Donald Trump poses to American democracy.
Trump will also hold a campaign event this week. He will appear in Iowa Friday, over a week ahead of the state’s leadoff Republican caucuses on Jan. 15.
The former president has downplayed the attack on the Capitol, saying he will pardon those convicted of crimes during the riots if he wins another term.
Hundreds of individuals have already been convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. The convictions include members of far-right extremist groups, former police officers, an Olympic gold medalist and active-duty U.S. Marines.
Washington, D.C.’s federal courthouse remains flooded with cases from the riots. There are guilty plea hearings and sentencings still pending. The ongoing saga represents the largest criminal investigation in American history, and the hunt for suspects continues to this day.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves went over the latest criminal prosecutions and the ongoing search for suspects Thursday during a press conference on the riots.
“With nearly 900 people convicted to date of crimes committed on Jan. 6, 2021, we are at a point in our prosecutions where thousands of photographs, videos and communications have been accepted by courts,” Graves said. “The public’s help is still needed though. More than 80 people are wanted and unidentified for acts of violence at the Capitol.”
Hundreds of individuals already charged in the riots await a Supreme Court decision which will determine if charges of obstruction of an official proceeding include disrupting the certification of the 2020 election, as it relates to rioters storming the Capitol chambers.
The Supreme Court could overturn the charges, including the charge against Trump.
Around 300 people are charged with “obstruction of an official proceeding” related to Jan. 6, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
During a rally in Coralville, Iowa, on Wednesday, Trump railed against the charges by U.S. special counsel Jack Smith and his push to get the matter to the Supreme Court, saying it was politically motivated. The former president also implied immunity.
“And now they’re fighting like hell because they want to try and get a guilty plea from the Supreme Court of the United States, which I can’t imagine, because you have presidential immunity, but strange things happen,” Trump said. “But they want to get that because that’s the only way they’re going to win the election.”
At least two defendants in the Jan. 6 case had their sentences delayed as they await a decision by the Supreme Court. More revelations on Thursday also suggest the scope of the assault on officers at the Capitol may have been greater than previously thought.
According to CNN, the DOJ believes the number of officers injured during the Capitol riots is larger than the 140 reported.
Graves said it is “likely the largest single-day, mass assault of law enforcement officers in our nation’s history.”
“The 140 numbers undercount the number of officers who were physically injured, let alone those who have suffered trauma as a result of the day’s events,” Graves said.
Dozens of people believed to have assaulted law enforcement on Jan. 6 have yet to be identified, according to Graves. The U.S. attorney said the statute of limitations is five years, meaning anyone who assaulted an officer would have to prosecuted by Jan. 6, 2026.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Biden will hold his speech on Saturday, Jan. 6. The correct date is Friday, Jan. 5. The video and written article have been updated to reflect this correction. SAN regrets the error.
