Judicial Watch said Washington, D.C., police released more than 1,000 hours of body-camera footage from January 6, 2021, after a court ruling in the group’s public records lawsuit.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Judicial Watch said it has obtained and published more than 1,000 hours of Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department body-camera footage from January 6, 2021, following a court victory in a D.C. Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
The watchdog group announced that the department released 1,630 videos tied to the U.S. Capitol event. Judicial Watch said the footage became public after an April 2026 court ruling in litigation over the records.
The videos are available through the organization’s January 6 body-camera archive, Judicial Watch said.
The release stems from a lawsuit Judicial Watch filed in June 2024 after D.C. police denied an August 2021 request seeking all body-worn camera footage recorded by officers responding to the events at and around the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The case was filed as Judicial Watch v. District of Columbia, No. 2024-CAB-003453.
Judicial Watch said a local D.C. court rejected the police department’s attempt to broadly blur or censor the footage before release. According to the organization, D.C. police had argued that it could withhold the faces and voices of everyone except law enforcement and said producing the material would cost more than $1.5 million.
The court ruled that privacy interests were minimal and were outweighed by the public interest in disclosure, clearing the way for the footage to be released, according to Judicial Watch.
“The release of these previously secret DC Police January 6 bodycam videos are the result of a hard-fought victory for transparency by Judicial Watch,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “Judicial Watch encourages citizens, law enforcement, Congress and media to carefully review these videos so they can see more of the truth about January 6.”
Judicial Watch also announced the release on X.
The organization said the body-camera footage is part of a broader independent investigation it has conducted into January 6.
In April 2026, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service seeking records related to possible improper targeting of January 6 protesters, their supporters and related nonprofit groups.
In August 2025, the group said the U.S. Air Force would provide full military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran who was shot and killed inside the Capitol by then-Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd on January 6, 2021. Judicial Watch said Babbitt was the only official January 6 homicide victim.
The organization said the Biden administration had previously denied those honors to Babbitt and her family because she had been at the Capitol that day. Judicial Watch said the decision followed a nearly $5 million Trump administration settlement with her family over wrongful death and other claims against the federal government.
Judicial Watch also sued the U.S. Department of Justice in July 2025 for records concerning accelerated January 6 prosecutions after Donald Trump was elected president in November 2024. The group said the Biden administration was believed to have moved more quickly on prosecutions in the final months of Biden’s term in anticipation of Trump’s pledge to issue pardons for January 6 defendants.
In March 2024, Judicial Watch said it received Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives records from the Justice Department in a FOIA lawsuit showing that the Central Intelligence Agency deployed personnel to Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021.
The group also said it received a declaration in October 2023 from James W. Joyce, senior counsel in the Office of the General Counsel for the U.S. Capitol Police. According to Judicial Watch, the declaration described January 2021 emails among senior Capitol Police officials warning of possible protests that could cause serious disruptions at the Capitol.
Judicial Watch said the newly released body-camera videos provide additional material for citizens, law enforcement, Congress and news organizations reviewing the police response and events surrounding January 6.
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