Capitol Police officer rips Congress for blocking January 6 commission: 'We did our job ... and they don't have our back'
Capitol Police Officer James Blassingame spoke with "PBS NewsHour" about the January 6 insurrection.
In the interview, he criticized Congress for not creating a commission to investigate what happened.
Blassingame has also filed a civil lawsuit against Trump accusing him of inciting the mob.
A Capitol Police officer who was on the scene of the January 6 insurrection is criticizing Congress for not forming a commission to investigate what happened on the day of the riot.
Officer James Blassingame, who has filed a civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump accusing him of inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol, spoke with "PBS NewsHour" about the siege and its aftermath in an interview that aired on Wednesday.
"As bad as it was, like, we did our job. Like, no member of Congress was harmed," he said.
"And to have to see these people every day, and they don't have our back, something as simple as just trying to find out what happened so that it doesn't happen again, because my fear is this was the tip of the iceberg," he added.
Last month, the Senate failed to rally the support of 60 senators to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the Capitol breach. Fifty-four senators voted yes on the measure, including six Republicans. Two Democrats did not vote: Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Patty Murray.
Blassingame said he feared that a lack of accountability for what happened was "emboldening" people who are radicalized on the far-right, and it appears that federal judges agree.
Judges have denied bonds for several members of the Capitol mob, linking the decisions to baseless claims about the validity of the presidential election spread by Trump and members of the Republican Party. While denying bond to one rioter, Judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia said: "Unfortunately, political dynamics that gave way to January 6 have not faded."
At least 515 people have been charged in connection with the Capitol riot, and two people have pleaded guilty: Jon Schaffer and Paul Hodgkins.
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