Thirty-five Capitol police officers are under investigation – including six suspended for payment – for their actions in the deadly January siege, according to the department.
Acting chief Yogananda Pittman has indicated that any police officer whose actions were found to be unacceptable on January 6 will be disciplined, a department spokesman said in a statement to WTTG on Thursday.
“Our Professional Responsibility Office is investigating the actions of 35 police officers that day. We currently suspend six of these officers with payment, ”says the statement.
Some Capitol police officers were captured on video watching the protesters enter the Capitol without taking any action.
In a video posted on YouTube, Capitol Police Lieutenant Tarik Khalid Johnson can be seen wearing a red “Make America Great Again” cap while talking to several former President Trump supporters.
Johnson – who has since been suspended from the department – put on his cap to gain the protesters’ trust so they could take him through the crowd and enter the building so he could save his fellow police officers, the Wall Street Journal reported.
At one point in the video, Johnson, 45, gives his megaphone to one of the protesters and says, “I’m going to follow you.”
The Justice Department accused more than 250 people for breaking into the Capitol during a violent attack that left five dead, including veteran Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick.
As a result, Trump was impeached a second time for inciting the Capitol insurrection, but the Senate was unable to condemn him.