Last Updated on February 19, 2023
At least three undercover D.C. Metropolitan Police officers embedded themselves with protesters on January 6, according to newly disclosed court filings. At least one of the officers urged Trump supporters to enter the Capitol Building and climbed over a barricade. Another undercover officer walked directly behind Ashli Babbitt and predicted “someone will get shot,” court documents show.
“This video clearly evidences undercover law enforcement officers urging the crowds to advance up the stairs and scaffolding towards the Capitol on January 6,” wrote January 6 defendant William Pope in one motion. “The government may claim that incidents like this did not happen, but the facts show they did.”
“Since the government cannot be trusted to disclose these facts,” Pope wrote, “it becomes even more important that defense teams, including Pro Se defendants, be able to directly examine the evidence.”
https://twitter.com/RealMattCouch/status/1627100230939447297
The three undercover Metro Police officers approached the northwest corner of the Capitol grounds at about 1:40 p.m. on Jan. 6, according to one of the motions. One of the officers yelled “drain the swamp!” as they marched towards the Capitol Building.
At the base of the construction scaffold stairs, one of the officers joined the crowd in chanting “Whose house? Our house!”
“Officer 1 began yelling at people in front of him to ‘Go, go, go!’ As they climbed bicycle racks, Officer 1 yelled for the crowd to ‘help him up, help him up!” followed by ‘push him up, push him up!’” the motion reads, describing how one of the officers climbed over a barricade.
“Needing help to get up, Officer 1 asked a nearby man to give him a boost,” the motion says. “The man gives Officer 1 a lift up, and Officer 1 says ‘Thanks, bro.’” Officer 1 then urged the crowd to enter the building, shouting, “c’mon, c’mon, c’mon, let’s go!,” the motion said.
At one point, the two additional officers were directly behind murdered Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt about an hour before she was gunned down. Pope wrote in a tweet on Feb. 18. “Why hasn’t the government informed the public that undercover MPD officers were chanting, ‘Our house!’ and repeatedly urging protesters to advance up the northwest steps of the Capitol on January 6?” Pope wrote. “Officer 2 said someone would get shot and went up right behind Ashli Babbitt.”
Video shot by the three undercover officers remains under court seal.
