Documentarian Ford Fischer rediscovered some video from the riot on Jan. 6 that’s raising a lot of questions. It also puts a big crimp in the narrative of the Jan. 6 Committee.
He has a picture and video of Capitol Police Lieutenant Tarik Johnson leading Oathkeepers into the building, then wearing a MAGA hat and yelling into a bullhorn, leading more of them out.
Warning for language:
In the clip before he is seen with MAGA cap, USCP Lieutenant Johnson can be seen entering with officers tailed by several Oath Keepers.
Footage by YouTuber Rico La Starza (https://t.co/75qTGftGl4) shows Johnson wearing the cap and asking for Oathkeepers’ help moments earlier. pic.twitter.com/dEAhUumVJ7
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) August 18, 2022
In my subsequent shot, Capitol Police Lieutenant Tarik Khalid Johnson can be seen wearing a MAGA cap and yelling into a bullhorn while leading several officers out of the building, followed by protesters. pic.twitter.com/zE1Uzi2ddu
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) August 18, 2022
Now, this has been reported before, albeit not widely. But Johnson said he appealed to Oathkeepers who were outside to help get some of his fellow officers out who were trapped in the building.
I hadn’t seen this angle before, but helmet-camera footage by @stephenehorn also shows the USCP Lieutenant coming down the East steps still wearing the MAGA hat after the apparent extraction mission he recruited Oathkeepers for. https://t.co/jbYeZrIXpU
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) August 19, 2022
Where he got the hat is not clear.
So if you take the video at face value, Johnson was appealing to the people the government has painted as terrorists and they without hesitation went to help him to help get the officers out. He didn’t fear appealing to those guys. That sort of blows up a lot of the narrative that has been pitched against the Oathkeepers. Now, I don’t know what the legal status is of the folks who helped him, but if they got charged for going in, that would seem a very significant defense. Plus, it seems to militate against the “insurrection” idea, if they’re trying to help get people out. And they don’t look like “armed terrorists” as the Jan. 6 Committee has tried to paint them when they’re trying to help the police.
Johnson was suspended after the incident for wearing the hat, but he claimed that he had been wearing it to help get the other officers out.
So add another fact that puts a crimp in the failed position of the Jan. 6 Committee. 89 percent of Americans say the Committee hasn’t changed their minds about the incident and 8 in 10 Republicans still have a favorable impression of President Donald Trump.
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