House Speaker Mike Johnson Releases Public Security Video From January 6 Storming of the Capitol
Jose Nino
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In the middle of November, House Speaker Mike Johnson started releasing video footage from the January 6, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol. He declared that he was following through with a promise he made once he was elected speaker in October.
“Truth and transparency are critical,” he declared in a social media post. “A public viewing room will ensure that every citizen can view every minute of the videos, uncensored.”
The video is available on the Republican-controlled Committee on House Administration’s website, in addition to in-person appointments in the offices of the committee’s oversight subcommittee that concerned individuals can schedule, per a press release by the panel.
Democrats criticized Republicans over the release, declaring that the revelations undermined national security and the safety of individuals working on Capitol Hill.
“It is unconscionable that one of Speaker Johnson’s first official acts as steward of the institution is to endanger his colleagues, staff, visitors, and our country by allowing virtually unfettered access to sensitive Capitol security footage,” declared New York Congressman Joe Morelle, the leading Democrat on the panel. “That he is doing so over the strenuous objections of the security professionals within the Capitol Police is outrageous.”
The House select committee conducting an investigation about the storming of the Capitol played a video compilation in its first set of hearings, which includes footage of demonstrators breaching the Capitol.
Roughly 90 hours of security video footage was released November 17, 2023 by the committee. House Republicans have plans of unveiling roughly 44,000 hours of surveillance video footage on security cameras on Capitol grounds.
Several Republican leaders have criticized the select committee forged by previous Speaker Nancy Pelosi to investigate the storming of the Capitol and put forward a misleading account of that day by selectively releasing video and disseminating damning images while keeping other images under wraps.“As I’ve said all along—the American people deserve transparency, accountability, and real answers supported by facts instead [of] a predetermined political narrative,” declared Georgia Congressman Barry Loudermilk, the chairman of the Administration Committee’s Oversight Subcommittee.
The entire footage of the January 6 storming of the capitol must be provided if the American people are to get an accurate account of what actually took place that day. Narrative control is of the essence in this time of hyper-polarity.
When our enemies control the overall political narrative, their job of subjugating us becomes so much easier. Republicans can avoid such a fate by releasing all of the January 6 footage, Democrat and moaning be damned.
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