New video footage from the Metropolitan Police Department's bodycam of Officer Lawrence Lazewski on January 6th reveals an officer stating that he and the police were "set up". The footage, which was used in the trial of Jan. 6th defendant William Pope, shows Officer Lazewski approaching a group of officers on the upper terrace of the Capitol. The officer in particular appears angry about how easily intruders had infiltrated the building and claims that they were purposely set up.
The bodycam footage indicates that after spending nearly 90 minutes on the police line at the west front of the Capitol, Lazewski retreated to the Upper West Terrace at 2:33 p.m., where he encountered other officers who were engaged in discussion. One of them angrily declared that they had been deliberately set up by someone, saying “They set us the f*** up. That’s what they did. They set up [Unit] 64, absolutely, and then they ask you all to come two hours later. We ain't got nothing”. At this point, Officer Lazewski added his own observation that “they needed everybody right away”, only for him to be met with agreement from his colleague about having been deliberately taken advantage of through a setup.
It is clear from this short exchange between two police officers that there was a belief among them on January 6th that somebody had intentionally arranged for them to be put in a vulnerable position with no way to deal with it effectively - essentially putting them into a situation where they were ill-equipped to handle it successfully and making themselves easy targets for infiltration of the Capitol Building. It remains unclear who exactly was responsible for this purported setup or why they chose to do so; however, it is evident from this new bodycam footage just how frustrated these officers felt towards whoever ultimately orchestrated it all.
BREAKING: Officer says January 6 was a setup pic.twitter.com/bvLuON2Dux
— Tank Man (@wittycommittee) February 22, 2023
Wait what’s this?
New body cam footage from J6 w/MPD discussing how “they set us up”?
“Let them take the [Capitol]”
This is why they don’t want more J6 footage released
The fingers will all point back at Pelosi & her staff secretly weakening security
VC: @RaheemKassam pic.twitter.com/oGYTOqvNPO— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) February 22, 2023