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The 10 video clips, shown by the Justice Department at a court hearing this week, have become public records and are key to a major criminal case against two men accused of assaulting police, wrote lawyers for media companies in court.
The clips are also the most graphic representations publicly seen so far of Sicknick’s attack and reaction.
“There is no doubt that the public has a vested interest in closely observing the government’s administration of justice in the prosecution of those accused of committing violent crimes in the January 6, 2021 riot in Canada. United States Capitol, “writes media in Washington, DC, Federal District Court in a new filing. “Courts can best enhance public confidence in the sanctity of our political institutions, the safety of the law enforcement officers who protect them, and the fair administration of justice, by ensuring public access to these unprecedented procedures. “
Reporters from several media outlets and members of the public watched the videos Monday on a live broadcast from the courtroom in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
But federal rules prohibited the hearing from being recorded or broadcast live, and the Justice Department and courts have yet to make the videos available. When CNN requested access this week from federal prosecutors and the West Virginia court, they deferred to their counterparts in Washington, DC. News outlets that went to court this week to gain access also include CBS, ABC, NBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, ProPublica, National Public Radio, BuzzFeed , Gannett and broadcasters Tegna and Groupe Gray Media.
At Monday’s court hearing, prosecutor Sarah Wagner played the clips one after the other, recounting the attack and the police officers’ physical reactions.
Police body camera footage shown in court allegedly captured riot defendant Julian Khater spraying a canister of bear spray on the faces of three officers a few feet away, and officers backing away then.
“The officers, all three of them, immediately withdraw from the line, bringing their hands to their faces and rushing to find water to rinse their eyes,” Wagner, the prosecutor, told the court as she broadcast the images.
According to Wagner, two other clips captured Sicknick walking alone on the steps of the Capitol, then kneeling in pain after the attack.
“Even 10 minutes after the incident, Officer Sicknick appears to be trying to shake off the effects of the pepper spray. He rubs and rinses his eyes with more water, and sometimes stops squatting with his hands on the knees.” the prosecutor said in court.
Two men, Khater and George Tanios, are charged with 10 federal criminal counts relating to their participation in the riot and assaulting police, including Sicknick, with the bear spray. The Justice Department has not linked Sicknick’s death the day after the bear bomb riot.
Judge Michael Aloi reacted strongly to videos released in court, especially of police officers suffering from the chemicals in their eyes.
“Just seeing that squirt of spray enter their eyes. And then the woman officer just with her head rubbing her eyes, turning away. What did she do that day, other than show up to do her job? , look at thousands of angry people ?? ”said Aloi. “And then the officer who is no longer with us, it’s almost surreal, a sort of solitary walk, rubbing his eyes on the steps of the Capitol.
“It is difficult for me not to view this as more than an assault on the house of our nation and all that is important to us as a people,” added the judge.
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