(AP) Washington – A body-worn camera video released by a court shows a Marine Corps veteran and former New York City cop charging at a police officer with a flagpole during the chaos at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Federal judges ordered the videos publicly released after a request by media organizations, including The Associated Press. The videos are evidence in cases against two men charged with assaulting police.
Officer body camera video released Thursday shows former New York City police officer Thomas Webster holding a flagpole and shouting profanities at officers standing behind a metal barricade. Webster pushes on the barricade and swings toward the officer with the flagpole. Webster and the officer scuffle, the officer manages to take the flagpole away from the man and Webster appears to tackle the officer to the ground.
Webster’s lawyer wrote in court documents seeking his release from jail that his client had gotten upset when he saw police using pepper spray on protesters. The lawyer
“So Webster was arrested in February and he’s being detained pretrial,” said Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer.
“His lawyer claims that Webster was actually provoked by the officer who he says reached across the barrier and first punched him,” Richer added. “And Webster’s lawyer, says that the video never shows Webster actually hitting the officer with the flagpole.”
