Searing US Capitol riot footage revives grim memories

The footage was more violent, more eye-popping than any prime-time network crime show. And it was real.

Previously unseen footage of the Capitol riot was released on Friday.

The footage was more violent, more eye-popping than any prime-time network crime show. And it was real.

Video images capturing the raging anger and violence of the mob ransacking the US congress provided a vivid and visceral picture of the 2021 insurrection on Capitol Hill.

Dozens of journalists, politicians and congressional staffers crammed into the Capitol’s Cannon Caucus Room on Thursday (Friday AEST) for the first hearings into the January 6 committee’s findings, their febrile chatter quickly turning to stunned silence as opening speeches were followed by video of the riot playing out on a huge screen. A minute-by-minute visual breakdown – much of it composed of new footage – served as a painful reminder of the mayhem that played out as a mob attempted to disrupt the formal vote by lawmakers to transfer power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.

The committee showed the moment when the mob, spurred on by members of the neofascist Proud Boys, overwhelmed police at the perimeter of the Capitol complex, casting aside barricades as they surged forward. Police were seen desperately trying – and failing – to keep the crowd at bay as rioters climbed scaffolding, hurled chairs and eventually breached the halls of congress.

The public gallery sat rapt, watching graphic images of the clashes that could have spiralled into a much larger tragedy had lawmakers not been evacuated.

Some people in the public seats looked away at times but many held up phones to record the footage as hordes of rioters – some in tactical gear – were seen streaming into the Capitol through broken windows and other breached entry points.

The video juxtaposed images of insurrectionists overrunning the complex from the outside with footage of the mob roaming the Capitol – and video and audio of Mr Trump whipping up the crowd beforehand and praising the mob afterwards.

Police officer Caroline Edwards gave an account of the violence, in which she was concussed when she cracked her head on the Capitol steps after being knocked over by the surging mob.

AFP