Court filing alleges Metropolitan Police allowed protesters free access to US Capitol on Jan. 6.
Metropolitan Police Department Allegedly Allowed Protesters to Enter U.S. Capitol
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers gave protesters free access to a door on the west side of the U.S. Capitol for 12 minutes on Jan. 6, 2021, after supervisors ordered them to retreat, leading one officer to remark, “I can’t believe they let them in,” a new federal court filing alleges.
Defendant William Pope, 37, of Topeka, Kansas, asked U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras on Aug. 21 to compel federal prosecutors to produce what he called “highly explosive and exculpatory materials” needed for his defense.
Among the revelations in Mr. Pope’s 41-page filing is that undercover MPD Officer Nicholas Tomasula—seen in video footage encouraging protesters to go up the northwest steps to the Capitol—had also infiltrated the Proud Boys “against MPD policy and in violation of federal law.”
Mr. Pope asked Judge Contreras to compel the U.S. Department of Justice to produce an “unredacted copy of the 90 pages of text messages between undercover Officer Tomasula and the Proud Boys he infiltrated.”
An MPD internal investigation and Mr. Pope’s own research have “identified that other undercover MPD officers were, in real-time, praising protestors who broke windows at the Capitol, and thanking persons who removed fencing,” the filing stated.
“My research has also revealed that several undercover officers were recording media that has not yet been produced in discovery,” Mr. Pope wrote. “The government has also failed to produce all body camera recordings in discovery.”
The body camera of MPD Officer Matthew Fleming reveals that department supervisors ordered officers to fall back on the west side of the Capitol, which gave protesters “free access” to enter the building, Mr. Pope wrote.
“For twelve minutes, these MPD officers stood back and watched people enter the Capitol,” the document said.
Mr. Fleming’s body camera also captured MPD Officer Jawaun Campbell remarking of MPD leadership, “I can’t believe they let them in.”
The body camera of Officer Joseph Young also shows that at 2:27 p.m., MPD Officer Lynn Pittmon said, “We [expletive] this [expletive] all the way up.” Officer Pittmon then “disdainfully curses” MPD Inspector Robert Glover—the department’s incident commander—saying, “There should have been a riot set up before they even got here, bro.”
Mr. Pope previously disclosed that MPD Officer Terry Thorne waved protestors toward the Capitol, as well as another officer who said that protestors should be allowed to “take this [expletive]” as people entered the west door, according to the document.
“Since undercover police are not uniformed, they influence the crowd as presumed peers,” Mr. Pope wrote. “The only way to determine the precise relevance of their video is for the defense to review what undercover officers recorded and assess how that relates to the facts of a specific case.
In a February case filing, Mr. Pope disclosed that three undercover MPD officers—now identified as Mr. Tomasula, Detective Ricardo Leiva, and Detective Michael Callahan—joined the march of protesters up the northwest stairs. Mr. Tomasula “pushed protesters in front of him to advance on the Capitol, shouting, ‘C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, let’s go!’” Mr. Pope wrote.
Mr. Tomasula’s actions on Jan. 6 became the subject of an MPD internal affairs investigation.
“In an attempt to explain why he assisted others up the steps, ‘Tomasula stated he called to the crowd to ‘help them up’ as others were climbing up to the marble railing because he didn’t want them to fall and get hurt,’” according to one investigation document quoted by Mr. Pope.
Mr. Tomasula told MPD internal affairs that he went up the steps because he “believed he couldn’t get out and forward was the only direction he could go,” the document said.
Mr. Tomasula was part of “Team 2,” one of eight MPD Electronic Surveillance Unit (ESU) teams in operation on Jan. 6.
Three officers assigned to ESU teams were carrying camcorders. Two officers, including Mr. Tomasula, were carrying GoPro cameras. Eight officers, including Mr. Leiva, were assigned to carry cellphones capable of live-streaming video to the MPD Joint Operations Command Center, Mr. Pope wrote.
Mr. Pope has made several recent filings with Judge Contreras complaining that federal prosecutors haven’t turned over requested exculpatory materials. He asked for all video recordings made by 28 Electronic Surveillance Unit members who were embedded in the crowds on Jan. 6.
“Since after many attempts to resolve these issues, the government shows no indication they will provide these requested materials, I am asking the Court to compel production,” Mr. Pope wrote.
Proud Boys Connection
Mr. Tomasula infiltrated the Proud Boys at a bar and a hotel on Dec. 11–12, 2020, the filing stated. He continued to communicate with the Proud Boys using an encrypted messaging app. He later reported that he destroyed the phone that contained the messages, the filing said.
“The government has an obligation to produce the full facts of Tomasula’s involvement on and before January 6,” Mr. Pope wrote, “as well as an explanation for why his phone and communications were destroyed and why his remaining texts are now fully redacted.”
During the internal affairs investigation of Mr. Tomasula, Mr. Leiva admitted “that when he had seen someone breaking a window at the Capitol, he ran up to them saying, ‘Hey what’s up, man, you’re doing an amazing job, awesome, awesome, awesome.’” Mr. Pope wrote. ”Leiva claims he ran up to the man to record the glass-breaker’s face, but the government has not produced this recording in discovery.”
The document says that Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed at the Capitol at 2:45 p.m. on Jan. 6, was near the Team 2 officers as they climbed the northwest steps. It is “likely Mrs. Babbitt was next
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