Newly-released security footage from the protests on January 6th, 2021 reveal that as many as 300 protesters were allowed to enter the U.S. Capitol through a door that was unguarded and left open on the building’s West side.
According to Just The News, which has been given access to the footage in question by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the footage shows that, at around 2:30 PM EST, Capitol Police clearly ushered protesters into the building and through the Upper West Terrace hallway, towards a door that was marked as a fire evacuation door that would activate an alarm and unlock all doors throughout the building.
“Emergency exit only,” the sign on the door read, saying to “push until alarm sounds” and that the “doors will unlock in 10 seconds.” The doors appeared to open from the inside, allowing 309 protesters to pass through it over the course of the next 20 minutes. This particular incident, one of several breaches in the building on that day, is barely referenced in the Capitol Police’s official report, which simply notes that, at 2:34 PM, the “Upper West Terrace is breached.”
Senator RonJohnson (R-Wisc.) said that this footage revealed a genuine security failure on the part of Capitol Police which was never addressed by the one-sided January 6th Committee run by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in the previous Congress.
“Some people did enter the Capitol, not by committing acts of violence, but were literally let in,” said Johnson upon seeing the footage.
FBI whistleblower Steve Friend said that the new footage could prove to be valuable to January 6th defendants who are currently seeking appeal.
“I think it’s sort of a game changer,” said Friend. “I mean, here, they didn’t even position authority figures there who would admonish folks not to use that door. And that’s the Capitol, the people’s house. And I think there was a general sentiment among people there who even might have thought that it was more of just a regular tour of the building.”
Congressman Troy Nehls (R-Texas), a former sheriff himself, said that the footage was proof that Pelosi and the Democrats “picked and chose what they wanted to expose during that sham committee.”
“They got people screaming, and they found the worst 10 minutes inside the Capitol,” Nehls continued. “But when you truly see the video, there are hours and hours of no violence, non-violent protesters just walking around inside the Capitol, waving their flags, singing God Bless America.”
The new January 6th footage was given to Just The News, as well as American Greatness and one other unnamed reporter, to review before releasing to the public. McCarthy had previously given similar access to the footage to Tucker Carlson’s team prior to his removal by Fox News.