Jan. 6 committee uses new footage to link Trump with violence at the Capitol

In never-before-seen footage shown during the Jan. 6 committee's public hearing on Thursday night, Proud Boys and other supporters of former President Donald Trump are shown gathering on Jan. 6, 2021, at the National Mall, with a woman telling the videographer, "I am not allowed to say what is going on today, everyone is going to have to watch for themselves, but it's going to happen. Something is going to happen."

The powerful footage was filmed by Nick Quested, a documentarian who was following the Proud Boys. Quested was one of the witnesses who appeared during the hearing. "I documented the crowd turn from protesters to rioters to insurrectionists," he testified. "I was surprised by the size of the group, the anger, and the profanity. For anyone who didn't understand how violent the event was, I saw it, I documented it, and I experienced it. I heard incredibly aggressive chanting and I subsequently shared that footage with the authorities."

Quested's footage was spliced into video of other events unfolding at the same time, including the Joint Session of Congress beginning and Trump sharing a message to former Vice President Mike Pence during a "Stop the Steal" rally. "I hope you're going to stand up for the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country, and if you're not, I'm going to be very disappointed in you, I'm going to tell you right now," Trump said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The video also contained radio transmissions from the Metropolitan Police Department, with officers saying they were struggling to keep the crowd back and needed support, and showed a Trump supporter using a megaphone to read a tweet Trump sent at 2:24 p.m. about Pence not having the "courage" to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. The video ended with audio from a July 11, 2021, interview Trump gave with Fox News, where he talked about the "love" shown by rioters on Jan. 6.