US Congressional Police Suspended for Wearing’Trump Hat’… It turned out that I saved a colleague

Inspector Tarik Khalid Johnson, a member of the US Congressional Police Department, was suspended after the Capitol riots on the 6th. At the time, he was caught running around wearing a hat symbolizing President Donald Trump, and he was suspected of participating in the riot.

However, a reversal has occurred since then. One after another, circumstances are revealing that he deliberately did that to appease the excited protesters and rescue his colleagues.

On the 18th (local time), BBC News released a video of Inspector Johnson’s incident on the day of the incident. In the video, Lieutenant Johnson talks with protesters and walks into the parliament with them. He also handed over his loudspeaker to a protester. He also wore a red hat with the phrase “Make America Great Again,” symbolizing Trump, and a so-called “MAGA” hat.

From here on, Lieutenant Johnson appears to be joining the riot and guiding them.

But what the BBC said was a little different. Earlier, he asked intruders for help, saying, “I want to help the police trapped in the building get out. They are afraid now.” In response, one protester said, “I can help. Let’s go together,” and Lieutenant Johnson said, “I’ll give you a megaphone, so please guide me.”

Subsequently, Lieutenant Johnson and two men who set out to help him broke through a crowd of protesters at the entrance to the Capitol to rescue the police. A man who was helping Lieutenant Johnson proudly waved the megaphone handed to him to try to dispel suspicion from other protesters.

The former Los Angeles Police Department detective Kirk Burkholter, who saw this scene, analyzed that “Inspector Johnson formed a consensus with the protesters and gained sympathy.”

Independent filmmaker Rico Rastaja who filmed the video said, “What he did was the best thing he could do at the time to rescue his colleagues. Thanks to that, the escaped colleagues are still alive, unlike others.” I defended Johnson.

Earlier, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) also released this video, including an explanation of the case of Lieutenant Johnson. Inspector Johnson said, “I wore a’mark’ hat to gain the trust of the protesters to reach out to my besieged colleagues.” He also claimed that the door was closed after entering the House, preventing further protesters from entering the House.

His colleagues also explained that “Inspector Johnson is a Democrat,” and that he is not a supporter of Trump.

The Associated Press cited four anonymous police officers at the scene that the command system at the time was completely broken, and that individuals had to decide how to deal with them on their own.

“We were completely alone,” said one police officer. Even before the incident, there have been warnings that protesters in support of Trump could take over Congress, but congressional police insisted they had not heard any instructions from the command on the morning of the incident. The same was true even after thousands of protesters came. It is said that there was only an instruction not to use lethal weapons.

It turned out that Stephen Sund, the chief of the congressional police, who had to serve as a control tower, was with him after evacuating Vice President Mike Pence at the time of the incident. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also publicly criticized Sund. He is currently resigned.

A spokeswoman for the Capitol Hill told the WSJ that “we are currently investigating warrant data related to Johnson and other police actions.” They are investigating allegations that some congressional police and some Republican lawmakers assisted intruders during the congressional occupation.

Reporter Jeong Eun-hye [email protected]