Democrats spent four years selling a lie about January 6.
The media ran cover while they prosecuted Trump supporters and called it an "insurrection."
But surveillance video just blew their entire narrative to pieces.
Capitol Police surveillance footage obtained by Blaze News shows officers repeatedly firing crowd-control weapons directly at protesters' heads, faces, and necks during the early minutes of January 6 — targeting zones explicitly prohibited by the weapon manufacturers and industry safety standards.¹
At least 16 people were struck by kinetic-impact projectiles in less than 10 minutes, with nine taking shots to the top of the head, face, or base of the neck.²
The rounds are designed to be fired at or below the waist, or skipped off pavement to hit legs and cause "pain compliance."³
None of the observable rounds on surveillance video struck below the belt.⁴
Use-of-force expert Stan Kephart reviewed the footage and didn't mince words: the targeting was "criminally negligent" and "potentially a lethal act."⁵
Democrats called January 6 an unprovoked attack by violent Trump supporters.
The surveillance video tells a different story — one where police fired banned headshots that triggered the crowd response Democrats spent years weaponizing against Trump supporters.
Capitol Police launched bombardment from elevated position without warnings
Deputy Police Chief Eric Waldow claimed over police radio around 1:11 p.m. that officers were using "indirect firing."⁶
The surveillance video proves he lied.
Waldow also said he gave "repeated warnings" to the crowd to disperse, but video shows he had no bullhorn and no warnings are audible on either ground-level or surveillance footage.⁷
At 1:06 p.m., Waldow ordered Capitol Police grenadiers positioned in the "crow's nest" outcropping beneath the inauguration stage to open fire.⁸
The grenadiers fired powerful FN 303 projectile launchers from less than 50 feet away.⁹
FN Herstal, the parent company of FN America which manufactures the FN 303, explicitly states on its website that it "forbids users from aiming at the head."¹⁰
The FN 303 uses 3,000-psi compressed air to fire projectiles at 300 feet per second.¹¹
A retired U.S. Army special forces operative who has used the FN 303 in overseas missions told Blaze News that firing at heads from an elevated position "will cause such rage afterward."¹²
"If you really want to start a riot, shoot them in the head," he explained.¹³
The officer who fired at the crowd with a Tippmann 98 pepper-ball rifle was Shauni Kerkhoff, a certified trainer on the proper use of crowd-control weapons.¹⁴
Kerkhoff testified in the first January 6 criminal trial in March 2022 that she was an instructor on both the Tippmann 98 rifle and the FN 303 launcher.¹⁵
When prosecutors asked what she aims for when launching projectiles, Kerkhoff testified: "Typically, I aim for the ground."¹⁶
That's not what the surveillance video shows her doing on January 6.
One protester's bloody injury escalated crowd violence
Joshua Black of Leeds, Alabama took an FN 303 round directly to the left cheek at 1:07 p.m.¹⁷
Unlike other projectiles that bounced off targets, this one punched through Black's cheek and embedded in his mouth.¹⁸
Black bled profusely, with the pool of blood still visible on the ground hours later.¹⁹
A bystander turned to the crowd and shouted, "They shot him in the f**king face!"²⁰
The bloody scene surrounding Black caused numerous crowd members to begin shouting and pointing at the line of riot-gear-clad officers, with several pointing up to the inauguration balcony in an accusatory fashion.²¹
A Department of War less-lethal weapons expert who reviewed the surveillance video told Blaze News that firing into a tightly spaced crowd carries enormous risks.²²
"Some of the intended targets and where they hit enticed the crowd to react emotionally and feel they were being targeted or felt the need to protect themselves," the expert explained.²³
Translation: Police created the exact violent response Democrats spent four years blaming entirely on Trump supporters.
The targeting of the crowd and Black's graphic injury appeared to trigger a large escalation of violence toward police, including the throwing of water bottles and flagpoles and the use of pepper spray and bear repellent.²⁴
At 1:18 p.m., a Capitol Police supervisor broadcast instructions to keep firing at the crowds: "We need munitions! Unload. Unload it all! Take 'em out!"²⁵
Democrats blamed Trump for "inciting" January 6.
Turns out Capitol Police leadership was broadcasting orders to "take 'em out" while firing banned headshots into crowds.
Government investigations reveal officer confusion about use of force
The Capitol Police use-of-force violations come as government reports revealed widespread confusion among officers about proper force deployment on January 6.
A Government Accountability Office survey of 315 Capitol Police officers found that 57 indicated they felt the leadership culture generally discouraged them from using force or that they were hesitant because of fear of disciplinary action.²⁶
The GAO report from March 2022 found that 96 officers felt slightly or not at all prepared to use force, while 153 felt slightly or not at all prepared for crowd control tactics.²⁷
Capitol Police reported 293 use of force incidents on January 6, with all deemed justified by the department.²⁸
All of them justified — including shooting protesters in the face with weapons that manufacturers explicitly forbid aiming at the head.
These incidents included 91 instances of pushing, 83 uses of batons, 37 withdrawals of firearms from holsters, and 34 uses of chemical spray.²⁹
The massive crowd caught Capitol Police off guard after a lightly defended police line near the Peace Memorial was breached at 12:53 p.m.³⁰
There was insufficient security to defend the Capitol in part because many officers were diverted to respond to two pipe bombs discovered at the Democratic National Committee building and the Capitol Hill Club.³¹
Stan Kephart, the use-of-force expert who reviewed the video, said the improper deployment of crowd-control weapons inflamed rather than controlled the situation.
"There is a wealth of clear and convincing evidence here that police were not trained or equipped to move, disperse, and arrest stragglers," Kephart told Blaze News.³²
"Instead they adopted a punishment tactic, inflaming the crowd and resulting in injury that they are responsible for," he added.³³
A former Capitol Police Civil Disturbance Unit officer who was on the police line that day reviewed the surveillance footage for Blaze News.
The officer said repeated attempts to push through the police line were made by small groups that could have been contained easily.
"I think they could have been contained easily, but the escalation of force totally amplified these small groups of people," the former officer explained.³⁴
Let that sink in: a Capitol Police officer admits the force escalation amplified small groups into larger confrontations.
That's the opposite of what Democrats and their media allies told Americans for four years.
The FN 303 launcher was implicated in the 2004 killing of Victoria Snelgrove, a Boston woman shot in the eye socket by police during a Boston Red Sox celebration.³⁵
Boston Police destroyed their remaining FN 303s in 2007, stating they were more powerful and lethal than anticipated.³⁶
Boston knew these weapons could kill when fired at heads.
Capitol Police used them anyway.
The trainer who shot protesters in the face disappeared into the Deep State
Officer Shauni Kerkhoff left the Capitol Police about six months after January 6, according to the former Civil Disturbance Unit officer.³⁷
Colleagues heard she went to work for a three-letter federal intelligence agency.³⁸
"She immediately wiped her social media, phone numbers, and email accounts," the former officer said.³⁹
"Nobody was able to reach her after that," he added.⁴⁰
The certified weapons trainer who testified she "typically" aims for the ground — but who surveillance video shows firing at heads on January 6 — vanished into the intelligence community six months later.
Democrats impeached Trump for January 6.
They prosecuted hundreds of his supporters.
They called it an "insurrection" and the worst attack on democracy since the Civil War.
But surveillance video proves Capitol Police fired banned headshots that escalated small confrontations into larger violence — violence Democrats then weaponized to destroy their political enemies.
The media buried this story for four years because it demolishes everything they told you about January 6.
Now you know why.
¹ Joseph M. Hanneman and Steve Baker, "Capitol Police repeatedly used lethal force on protesters early on Jan. 6, video shows," Blaze News, November 4, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ Ibid.
¹⁶ Ibid.
¹⁷ Ibid.
¹⁸ Ibid.
¹⁹ Ibid.
²⁰ Ibid.
²¹ Ibid.
²² Ibid.
²³ Ibid.
²⁴ Ibid.
²⁵ Ibid.
²⁶ "Government report finds officers were 'hesitant' to use force on Jan. 6 for fear of disciplinary action," CBS News, March 8, 2022.
²⁷ "Capitol Attack: Additional Actions Needed to Better Prepare Capitol Police Officers for Violent Demonstrations," U.S. Government Accountability Office, March 7, 2022.
²⁸ Ibid.
²⁹ Ibid.
³⁰ Hanneman and Baker.
³¹ Ibid.
³² Ibid.
³³ Ibid.
³⁴ Ibid.
³⁵ Ibid.
³⁶ "FN 303," Wikipedia, accessed November 4, 2025.
³⁷ Hanneman and Baker.
³⁸ Ibid.
³⁹ Ibid.
⁴⁰ Ibid.
