'Approximately 1,000' assaults on law enforcement occurred during Capitol attack, DOJ review finds
A comprehensive review of police officer bodycam footage from the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol found roughly 1,000 instances of assault against members of law enforcement who were trying to protect the building, according to a series of new legal filings by the Justice Department.
"Based on a review of the body-worn camera footage conducted by our Office, the footage displays approximately 1,000 events that may be characterized as assaults on federal officers," prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C., wrote in several discovery filings for Capitol rioter cases this week.
The department says it has transferred more than 2,900 body camera videos "totaling over 2,300 hours (nearly 100 days)" into a database that they are working to make available to defense attorneys for the nearly 600 alleged rioters charged in connection with the attack.
The disclosure comes as former President Donald Trump and many of his allies on the far-right continue to spread false narratives downplaying the dangerousness of the mob that day, with some casting currently detained Jan. 6 defendants as political prisoners.
The chief of the Capitol Police said in a statement Wednesday that they are closely monitoring activity leading up to the "Justice for J6" protests that supporters of the Jan. 6 attack are planning to hold Sept. 18 in Washington.
Police said that they are "planning accordingly."
More than 170 individuals already face charges for assaulting or impeding officers on Jan. 6, and the FBI has said it is still seeking tips on more than 200 still-unidentified suspects believed to have committed violence at the Capitol.
ABC News' Luke Barr contributed to this report.
