FBI releases new videos of Capitol attack, asks for help identifying suspects
The FBI on Thursday released more videos and pictures of alleged assaults on police officers during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
The released content includes images from more than 15,000 hours of video evidence collected by the FBI.
Of the more than 300 suspects already arrested in the investigation, more than 65 individuals have been arrested for assaulting police officers. The 10 suspects highlighted in these videos remain unidentified and are at large.
The videos and pictures depict assaults by suspects who are armed with sticks, poles, ax handles, a fire extinguisher and possible chemical irritant sprays. One suspect uses what authorities believe to be a battery-powered cattle prod that can be heard crackling as it delivers a jolt of electricity. Assailants also used their fists and tried to tear the gas mask off of a Metropolitan Police Department officer who appears to be Officer Daniel Hodges.
Three police officers, including Hodges, explained to ABC News what it was like to be in the mob that day.
"The guy in front of me, that guy, he was he was practically foaming at the mouth. He was screaming and just grabbed my arm, grabbed my filter on my masks, started beating my head against the doorframe and ripping it off as best he could," Hodges said. "Once he got my mask off, he also was able to rip away my right baton from me and started beating me in the head with it."
MPD Officer Michael Fanone said that day was like a "medieval battle scene."
"Some guys pulled me out into the crowd and some were yelling something ... they were beating me," he recounted. "At one point, I got tased, people were yelling out, 'We got one. We got one.'"
"Individuals in the crowd tried to get my gun. At one point, people started chanting, 'Kill him with his own gun,'" Fanone said. "I remember at one point, you know, some of the people in the crowd while I was getting tasered, they were stripping my gear off of my vest, my badge off, my radio. They started grabbing ammunition magazines from my belt."
“We’re grateful to the members of the public who have already been a tremendous help in these investigations,” Steven M. D’Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office said. “We know it can be a difficult decision to report information about family, friends or coworkers, but it is the right thing to do, and the FBI continues to need your help to identify these suspects.”
The FBI has received over 200,000 digital media tips in relation to the Capitol riot, the agency said.
U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn told ABC News the aftermath of the attack was gut-wrenching.
“This time you look up, it's just a cloud of smoke, fire extinguishers have been going off,” Dunn recalled of walking into a room soon after fighting off a mob of angry rioters. "The floors are covered in white dust, water bottles, broken flagpoles, mask, empty canisters of pepper spray, helmets, Trump flags, everything in the rotunda, just laying there on the floor."
