“There are multiple times when you can see in the video she’s got her hands up and she’s basically begging for mercy and she’s shown no mercy. The beating intensifies and is a horrific attack on a woman by a man in a leadership position.”
by Joseph M. Hanneman, EpochTimes.com, December 24, 2021
An attorney representing a Minnesota woman allegedly beaten by a Metropolitan Police Department supervisor outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 is calling for a special prosecutor to be appointed after the release of dramatic video footage of the incident on Thursday.
Victoria C. White, 39, of Rochester, Minnesota, had been arrested in April and charged with numerous felonies for her alleged role in violence at the Capitol. New York attorney Joseph McBride, who represents White in her criminal case, said the video shows a very different picture than what federal prosecutors portrayed in White’s charging documents.
The video shows a woman McBride identified as White being repeatedly struck with a collapsible baton by the same police officer in the west terrace tunnel of the Capitol on Jan. 6. McBride identified the policeman as a Metropolitan Police Department supervisor, a lieutenant, because of his white uniform and riot helmet with “MPDC” painted on the back. His name is not yet known.
The video shows White slumping to the ground numerous times over more than five minutes. Mace was sprayed in her face several times. She got up and was struck repeatedly with the baton. White suffered nearly three dozen blows before she was handcuffed and led away, McBride said. The supervisor at times put away the baton and punched White in the face with his bare fist, and grabbed her hair and jerked her head back and forth, McBride said.
“The highest-ranking officer in the tunnel targets her and just absolutely tees off on her and begins to brutally beat her,” McBride told The Epoch Times after releasing the footage.
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Until this week the video had been under court seal, but a judge ordered three hours of footage released, based on a motion from McBride in another Jan. 6 case.
“There are multiple times when you can see in the video she’s got her hands up and she’s basically begging for mercy and she’s shown no mercy. The beating intensifies and is a horrific attack on a woman by a man in a leadership position.”
Police Brutality?
The video revelations come just two weeks before the one-year anniversary of the massive rally of President Donald Trump supporters that morphed into what police described as a riot that forced the evacuation of lawmakers in session to count electoral votes from the November 2020 election.
Ashli Babbitt, a Trump supporter from California, was shot and killed by police as she attempted to climb through a door window into the Speaker’s Lobby.
The new video could reignite debate about what took place that day, and also spark new discussions about police brutality.
McBride said he wants a special prosecutor appointed to investigate what took place in the tunnel. A Trump supporter, Rosanne Boyland, 34, died in the west terrace tunnel. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death was toxicity from a prescription medication. McBride said the tunnel video shows Boyland was repeatedly struck by police.
The Epoch Times asked the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington for comment, but have not yet received a reply.
“That is somebody who’s not only acting with authority but is acting with license,” McBride said. “That is somebody who is acting because he has no fear that he’s going to be reprimanded for his actions. Do I think that’s criminal? There is no doubt in my mind that what that man did was criminal.”
“There must be accountability,” McBride said. “There must be an investigation.”
McBride said he plans a civil lawsuit against the police. “We fully intend on suing them for what they did, because it’s wrong and she should be made whole again,” he said.
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The video shows the west terrace tunnel entrance was initially clear of protesters. Then a man carrying an American flag appears to wave people to follow him and a group starts filling the tunnel to the spot where police in riot gear guarded entry to the Capitol. Eventually, police with riot shields pushed the crowd back. A melee erupted. The video shows rioters spraying mace at police, throwing objects including a bullhorn, and wielding pieces of lumber, which police eventually seized.
McBride said White was near the tunnel entrance but was not part of the riotous behavior. As the crowd surged toward the tunnel, White was forced inside and got trapped against one wall. That’s when the trouble started and White felt the first strike of the baton.
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