Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) went on the defensive amid the Republicans’ release of Jan. 6, 2021, footage, saying the tapes from the attack on the Capitol will prove that it was an insurrection.
“I was in the Capitol on January 6th, and all these extra hours of footage will show that January 6th was an insurrection,” Wilson posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “It will reveal thousands of extreme MAGA Republicans entering the Capitol illegally and violently in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Period.”
House Republicans began releasing thousands of hours of footage from inside the Capitol online on Friday on the Committee on House Administration website. The 44,000 total hours are expected to be made public by Monday.
According to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), the faces of private citizens will be blurred on any unreleased tapes and about 5 percent of the footage will be redacted due to building security concerns.
Several Republicans, including former President Trump, have praised the release of the tapes, suggesting it will change the narrative of what happened that day.
“Congratulations to Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson for having the Courage and Fortitude to release all of the J6 Tapes, which will explicitly reveal what really happened on January 6th!” Trump wrote in a Friday Truth Social post.
Johnson said releasing the footage will provide “millions of Americans, criminal defendants, public interest organizations and the media” the ability to “see for themselves” what happened that day.
More than 1,100 people have been charged for their role in the Capitol riot.