Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers gave protesters free access to a door on the west side of the U.S. Capitol for 12 minutes on Jan. 6, 2021, after supervisors ordered them to retreat, leading one officer to remark, “I can’t believe they let them in,” a new federal court filing alleges.
Defendant William Pope, 37, of Topeka, Kansas, asked U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras on Aug. 21 to compel federal prosecutors to produce what he called “highly explosive and exculpatory materials” needed for his defense.
Mr. Pope asked Judge Contreras to compel the U.S. Department of Justice to produce an “unredacted copy of the 90 pages of text messages between undercover Officer Tomasula and the Proud Boys he infiltrated.”
The DOJ filed an emergency motion seeking to have Mr. Pope’s filing removed from the public docket because it allegedly discloses information that is under court seal. Mr. Pope denied the contention.
“The government is using a desperation tactic to try and dodge their obligation to provide exculpatory materials,” Mr. Pope told The Epoch Times in a statement. “My motion to compel production is perfectly compliant with the Court’s protective order, and I will be filing an opposition to the government’s emergency motion.”
An MPD internal investigation and Mr. Pope’s own research have “identified that other undercover MPD officers were, in real-time, praising protestors who broke windows at the Capitol, and thanking persons who removed fencing,” the filing stated.
“My research has also revealed that several undercover officers were recording media that has not yet been produced in discovery,” Mr. Pope wrote. “The government has also failed to produce all body camera recordings in discovery.”
“For twelve minutes, these MPD officers stood back and watched people enter the Capitol,” the document said.
Mr. Fleming’s body camera also captured MPD Officer Jawaun Campbell remarking of MPD leadership, “I can’t believe they let them in.”
Mr. Pope previously disclosed that MPD Officer Terry Thorne waved protestors toward the Capitol, as well as another officer who said that protestors should be allowed to “take this [expletive]” as people entered the west door, according to the document.
“Since undercover police are not uniformed, they influence the crowd as presumed peers,” Mr. Pope wrote. “The only way to determine the precise relevance of their video is for the defense to review what undercover officers recorded and assess how that relates to the facts of a specific case.
Mr. Tomasula’s actions on Jan. 6 became the subject of an MPD internal affairs investigation.
“In an attempt to explain why he assisted others up the steps, ‘Tomasula stated he called to the crowd to ‘help them up’ as others were climbing up to the marble railing because he didn’t want them to fall and get hurt,’” according to one investigation document quoted by Mr. Pope.
Mr. Tomasula told MPD internal affairs that he went up the steps because he “believed he couldn’t get out and forward was the only direction he could go,” the document said.
Mr. Tomasula was part of “Team 2,” one of eight MPD Electronic Surveillance Unit (ESU) teams in operation on Jan. 6.
Three officers assigned to ESU teams were carrying camcorders. Two officers, including Mr. Tomasula, were carrying GoPro cameras. Eight officers, including Mr. Leiva, were assigned to carry cellphones capable of live-streaming video to the MPD Joint Operations Command Center, Mr. Pope wrote.
Mr. Pope has made several recent filings with Judge Contreras complaining that federal prosecutors haven’t turned over requested exculpatory materials. He asked for all video recordings made by 28 Electronic Surveillance Unit members who were embedded in the crowds on Jan. 6.
Proud Boys Connection
Mr. Tomasula infiltrated the Proud Boys at a bar and a hotel on Dec. 11–12, 2020, the filing stated. He continued to communicate with the Proud Boys using an encrypted messaging app. He later reported that he destroyed the phone that contained the messages, the filing said.“The government has an obligation to produce the full facts of Tomasula’s involvement on and before January 6,” Mr. Pope wrote, “as well as an explanation for why his phone and communications were destroyed and why his remaining texts are now fully redacted.”
During the internal affairs investigation of Mr. Tomasula, Mr. Leiva admitted “that when he had seen someone breaking a window at the Capitol, he ran up to them saying, ‘Hey what’s up, man, you’re doing an amazing job, awesome, awesome, awesome.’” Mr. Pope wrote. ”Leiva claims he ran up to the man to record the glass-breaker’s face, but the government has not produced this recording in discovery.”
The document says that Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed at the Capitol at 2:45 p.m. on Jan. 6, was near the Team 2 officers as they climbed the northwest steps. It is “likely Mrs. Babbitt was next to Leiva and Callahan as they went up the steps,” Mr . Pope wrote.
Mr. Callahan exclaimed, “People are inside!” and Mr. Leiva replied, “Oh [expletive].”
“Callahan then asks Leiva if his video is live; soon after answering ‘yes,’ Leiva ends the recording,” Mr. Pope wrote.
Another potentially explosive revelation in the court filing says that MPD Officer Ryan Roe stood next to a man known only by the hashtag #FenceCutterBulwark while he dismantled plastic snow fencing on the grounds.
“Appreciate it, brother,” Mr. Roe said to #FenceCutterBulwark, according to Mr. Pope’s filing.
“It is reasonable for the defense to question why Officer Roe expressed his appreciation to #FenceCutterBulwark for removing fencing and why Roe referred to #FenceCutterBulwark as ‘brother.’” Mr. Pope wrote.
Mr. Pope said he has consistently had trouble obtaining materials to assist in his defense.
“This game of hide and seek is not new,” he wrote. “I know from using the Congressional access terminals that the government continues to withhold more than a thousand Capitol CCTV cameras from discovery.
“More than two and a half years after the events at the Capitol, the government continues to obstruct justice in January 6 cases by withholding key evidence, including the remaining ESU materials from defense teams.”
