One of my earliest written observations about what took place on January 6 was the presence of so many press-credentialed photographers on the west terrace battle line, all seemingly prepared for a riot of some sort. Most wore gas masks and helmets, and others wore more extensive protective gear. While there’s nothing odd about that from experienced protest and riot photojournalists, what raised questions, was the fact they were already prepared for a battle . . . long before the president had finished his remarks . . . over a mile away. Two years hence, I still have questions.
Make no mistake about it . . . experienced photojournalists come prepared for contingencies. But we have the testimony of several Capitol Police officers — under oath during J6 trials, public whistleblowers, and others off the record — who have told us their leadership did not pass down intel about what was coming their way on J6. So, how did those photogs — many displaying official press passes — know to be pre-staged on the west terrace battle line, when, ostensibly, the biggest story of the day was over a mile away at The Ellipse stage.
Okay, okay, okay . . . yes, these DC news agencies have enough photographers in their employ to have Trump’s speech covered as well as the action at the Capitol Building. But, how did they know to be there so early . . . looking like combat photographers . . . long before the throngs could arrive from The Ellipse and Washington Monument lawn . . . and, coincidentally, at exactly the time of the initial barricade breaches on the west side of the terrace?
As far as timelines go, here’s a brief refresher:
11:57 am – President Trump took the stage at The Ellipse rally.
12:52 pm – the first outer barricade breach occurs, (where Ray Epps and other infamous characters begin the first physical violence against Capitol Police officers.)
1:00 pm (approx.) – Capitol Police and early-arriving violent provocateurs begin squaring off on a second semi-permanent fence line on the lower west terrace, which is almost immediately breached, forcing police to retreat back a few more feet and establish a second “bike rack” barricade line, which was then reinforced by DC Metro Police units, and then held during intense violence for almost an hour and a half.
1:16 pm – President Trump exits The Ellipse stage. (It should be understood, there was no automobile traffic from the rally site to the Capitol. Depending upon the exact location of origin, and the health of individual rally attendees, that walk would take anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour. And that’s not taking into account the process of navigating crowds and finding restroom facilities following a long series of speeches throughout the morning.
1:19 pm – I left Trump’s nothing-burger speech early, arrived on the south end of the west terrace battle line, and began recording my videos of what was taking place. I captured scenes in that area for about 45 minutes, slowly working my way from the southwest (downwind) position to the northwest position in front of the scaffolding that was eventually breached by the first wave of rioters.
These photos — of other photographers — are just a limited selection of what I captured on my own camera during those 45 minutes. I’ve only included photos of those who were carrying more professional gear — apart from the many with pretty sophisticated cellphone cameras and GoPro rigs. These are all screenshots from video, and some of these are blurry because they were captured from a long distance, then blown up for inclusion in this collage. All of these are from my camera.
This photo story begins at exactly 1:19 pm on January 6, 2021. I’ve not identified any of these photographers or what news agencies, (if any), they represented that day — other than one wearing a “Los Angeles Times” helmet:
Almost all of the obvious “pros” had at least a gas mask
and helmet as part of their gear. (1:19 pm)
I don’t think I ever got a shot of his face, but he was
wearing a gas mask the entire time, and always
as close to the action as possible. (1:19 pm)
but was pretty aggressive in getting close to the west terrace battle line. (1:19 pm)
his “DEAF” designation, (there is a Deaf Newspaper, or maybe he’s deaf?),
and also for what takes place in the next photo. (1:19 pm)
face shield for a gas mask. For good reason. Being downwind from the
pepper spray was a definite hazard. (1:21 pm)
at the same time as his professional gear. (1:20 pm)
I doubt he worked for any right-wing agency. (1:21 pm)
in our efforts to get further upstream from the pepper spray (1:21 pm)
approaches the barricade line. He’s followed by another photog. (1:38 pm)
and many photogs got as close as possible. (1:53 pm)
these photogs are surrounded by protestors about to surge up those scaffolding-covered steps. (2:00 pm)
Their helmets say “PRESS,” but their old-school gas masks
say something else. Who knows? (2:05 pm)
Bonus Video Clip: Only two seconds in to this short video, you’ll see a wooden 2×4, with a nail sticking out the end, enter the scene. It is being pointed at what appears to be a female photographer with “Press” marked across the back of her helmet. Five seconds in, the ‘2×4 guy’ swats her gas mask with his hand, then he seems intent on using the 2×4 on her in some other way. At exactly that moment, another photog, (with a couple of press badges on his lanyard), has witnessed this taking place and immediately begins moving down the steps toward them, to intervene.
I’d never noticed this event in over two years of reviewing my own videos from J6, but as I was keying in on all those riot-ready press guys for this feature, this jumped out at me for the first time. (This happens at exactly 1:30 pm.)
