Police bodycam footage introduced at the trial of Jared Wise showed him berating police officers on Jan. 6, 2021, and yelling “kill ’em” as rioters attacked law enforcement. Less than five years after urging rioters to “kill” police at the Capitol, a former Jan. 6 defendant is working as a senior adviser for the Department of Justice, which has been dramatically remade under the second Trump administration. NPR has obtained police bodycam footage from multiple angles of the former defendant and current administration official, Jared Wise, berating officers and calling them “Nazi” and “Gestapo.” NPR located the footage, which has not previously been published, in a review of thousands of court exhibits from Jan. 6 criminal cases, obtained through legal action by a coalition of media organizations. The Department of Justice had introduced the footage as an exhibit in Wise’s trial. NPR also obtained the transcript of Wise’s testimony, in which he acknowledged that he repeatedly yelled “kill ’em” as officers were being attacked and tried to explain his actions. Wise was not convicted of any crimes related to Jan. 6, due to President Trump’s order to end all Capitol riot prosecutions. A Department of Justice spokesperson said in a statement, “Jared Wise is a valued member of the Justice Department and we appreciate his contributions to our team.” The videos depict a tense period in the middle of the riot that day. The Capitol building had been breached two hours earlier, with doors knocked off hinges and windows smashed. The air was thick with pepper spray. The vice president, along with members of Congress, had been forced to evacuate and halt the certification of the 2020 election, as rioters yelled, “give them the rope,” “hang Mike Pence” and “traitors get the guillotine.”
via npr: Video shows Department of Justice official urging Jan. 6 rioters to ‘kill’ cops