The Reports
In some of these cases, officers were investigated for simply bumping elbows (pdf), shaking hands (pdf), and fist bumping (pdf) with protesters who had entered the Capitol building.None of the officers involved in these cases were found guilty of wrongdoing.
The report goes on to disclose that the unnamed officer had come into possession of what “looked like a two way radio” with “a small antenna,” which was “not a USCP Department issued radio.” The radio had allegedly been abandoned near the Capitol Rotunda doors by a protester.
During questioning, the unnamed officer said he found the radio and picked it up.
“I didn’t want anyone else getting their hands on it that shouldn’t have their hands on it ... so I was securing it,” he said.
Some Officers Found Guilty
While the majority of the investigations concluded the accused officers were not guilty of violating any rules, others were not as lucky.Of the 26 incidents investigated, the USCP announced that disciplinary action was recommended in six cases. Three of these were for “conduct unbecoming.” Another was for “improper remarks.” One other was for “improper dissemination of information,” and another one was for “failure to comply with directives.”
‘Conduct Unbecoming’
One of the cases, No. 21-002 (pdf), involved an officer who allegedly violated USCP’s rules of conduct on Jan. 6 when “he posed for several pictures with Pro-Trump supporters” who had entered the Capitol.
The OPR “received numerous complaints, via telephone and at least 170 emails received in one day, regarding photographs that appeared in news stories and on a live Twitter video of a USCP officer posing with rioters after the Capitol Building was breached.”
The video, no longer available online, had accrued an estimated 18.5 million views by 3:42 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, and an additional 162,000 people were posting on Twitter about it.
The report added that during a Jan. 7, 2021, interview conducted by WUSA9, Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) said, “Some people are worried today that some police were complicit with the protesters. It’s one thing to be friendly and to de-escalate the violence. But it’s one thing to take selfies with them (rioters) and let them go through the lines.”
During his interrogation, the officer was shown the social media clip and asked if he recalled stopping to take the photo.
“No ma‘am,” he replied. “I had people coming up to me and videoing me all day long. Pictures and videos of officers all day long. So, I mean, there was a lot going on that day.” He went on to say he’d been sprayed with tear gas and pepper spray and had been fighting with protesters all day.
“That’s a traumatic life event,” he said. “I mean, I never experienced anything like that in my life ... thought I never would.”
The investigation concluded that the charges of “conduct unbecoming” against the officer were sustained.
I was given your name by our Command Post here at the WFO. I am investigating a subject named Daniel Diaz. We believe we have enough for an arrest warrant for his role on 01/06/2021 at the US Capitol. We are using his Facebook account as evidence as he posted multiple photos/videos/comments at the Capitol. One of the photos we will use in the warrant is of Diaz taking a selfie with one of your officers. The arrest warrants are public so I just wanted to give you a heads up that this is happening so you all aren’t blindsided by it. The photo is attached. I am not sure when the arrest warrant will be issued. Fee/free to contact me to discuss further.During his interrogation, the report says the unnamed officer said he told Diaz to take the photograph with him so it could be used as evidence against Diaz once an investigation took place. But investigators were dissatisfied that the officer didn’t alert his superiors, the investigations division, or the FBI until four days later when he was interviewed as a victim of the events.
Failure to Comply With Directives
The officer involved in case No. 21-010 (pdf) was deemed guilty of “failure to comply with directives” because he shared social media posts with conservative viewpoints about gun control and the general state of the country that were deemed to be in sympathy with the Jan. 6 protesters.He also displayed the USCP logo to honor USCP Officer Brian Sicknick, who died of natural causes after the Capitol breach.
Investigators received an anonymous tip from a longtime acquaintance of the officer, who attached screenshots of the officer’s Facebook page.
“Please note I am aware that Officer’s [redacted] politics leaned conservative,” the tipster said in a Jan. 11, 2021, email to the OPR. “And that in and of itself obviously plays no role into his fitness for duty in the Capitol. Having political opinions in one direction or another is only human and natural. However, the message from the riots in the Capitol was one of insurrection against the institutions of government and democracy in this country. And looking over the posts from Officer [redacted] since January 6th, I have a hard time reconciling tributes to a colleague murdered by this anti-democratic mob on one hand, and messages that appear to be in sympathy and support of those involved in such a murder on the other hand.”
Improper Dissemination of Information
In case No. 21-015 (pdf), another anonymous tipster turned in a “friend of forty years,” who is a special agent in the protective services bureau, because the agent had disclosed in a conversation with an anonymous friend that “members of Congress had been taken to a secure location” during the breach of the Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021.While the tipster said he “believed it was inappropriate for [redacted] to reveal where members were evacuated,” he admitted the agent “did not state any specific information about SECURE LOCATION other than it was a location that members were evacuated to.”
The tipster did not indicate that the agent assisted the rioters in any way, but he said he was “uncomfortable with how this friend has associated himself with the rioters and the people that were sympathetic with Trump and stealing the election and overturning the election.”
Because of that, the tipster said he believed the agent was part of that “cult.”
Similar Evidence, Different Standards
A Feb. 26, 2021, memorandum from OPR Commander Inspector Michael Shaffer regarding case No. 21-026 states the OPR “received an email alleging a USCP officer punched a citizen without reason.”
While the report says “a review of the provided images disclosed that the officer was not a member” of the USCP, the agency continues to refer to the individual as an “officer” and shows him wearing a vest with the word “police” on the back. Then the report claims the mask the officer is wearing in the image makes it impossible to identify him.
“In addition, the images do not show the officer striking anyone, only their arm extended,” the report states further, noting that “the images are of such poor quality that it cannot be determined whether or not this incident occurred on U.S. Capitol Grounds” and that “the officer is also wearing a facemask where only the area around their eyes visible [sic] making identification highly improbable.”
However, this photo is similar to several that are being used as evidence against Jan. 6 prisoners, but viewed by different standards.
The screenshot of an image showing Jan. 6 defendant Bryan Mock with his right knee lifted has been used to accuse him of kicking an officer who was on the ground. However, the full video shows that Mock was in the process of falling backward when the screenshot was taken from the video, and his foot never made contact with the officer.
A series of still frames pulled from videos were used to allege that Jan. 6 defendant Christopher Worrell sprayed police officers with pepper gel. However, there is no image actually showing police officers being struck with pepper gel.
The Epoch Times reached out to the OPR for comment.
