‘Disgusting’ footage appears to show police officer ‘taking selfie’ with rioter inside the Capitol

Livestream footage shot inside the US Capitol appears to show a MAGA rioter taking a selfie with a police officer.

In the “disgusting” video, which was posted to Twitter, a man wearing a red hat can be seen taking a photo of himself with a man wearing a Capitol Police cap and a high-vis jacket marked ‘police’.

While the photo is taken, the officer appears to look in the direction of the camera before nodding to the rioter.

indy100 has contacted Capitol Police for comment on this incident.

Police preparedness and response to the MAGA mob is a subject of ongoing scrutiny.

Despite plans to march on the Capitol being shared online and acknowledged by the president in advance of the riot, security was minimal.

Few national guardsmen were on standby ahead of congress members ratifying Biden’s election win and more did not arrive for over an hour.

Combatting the crowd was left largely to Capitol Police, a force of 2,000 members. Many were occupied evacuating senators as rioters penetrated the federal building. Those left to defend it did not generally appear to be wearing riot gear.

Police tactics in confronting the mob have been compared to those deployed against Black Lives Matter protesters.

Those protests were sparked by a Black man’s murder by a police officer and were variously met with riot squads, rubber bullets and tear gas.

US Police chiefs will face questions about why they appeared to treat predominantly Black protesters as more threatening than mobilised white supremacists.

The contrast is stark.

We’ll update you if we receive a response from Capitol Police.