A January 6 participant has been confronting law enforcement officers in and around the federal courthouse where the insurrection cases are on trial

• Tommy Tatum confronted two police officers this week at the US courthouse in DC.
• Tatum describes himself as an independent journalist who was present at the January 6 riot.

A man at the US Capitol building during the January 6 insurrection confronted two law enforcement officers this week at a federal courthouse in Washington DC where another individual was on trial for charges related to the riot.

In one video, Tommy Tatum, who describes himself as an independent journalist from Mississippi, verbally harassed a law enforcement officer who NBC News reported appeared to be Aquilino Gonell, a former US Capitol Police sergeant who defended the Capitol building on January 6.

"He's not that smart. So his lawyer has to tell him which lies to say on the stand. Every time he tells a lie or gets a hard question, he has to look at that piece of trash lawyer to get the question," Tatum said in the video to the officer.

In another video, Tatum was seen harassing another law enforcement officer who protected the US Capitol building on January 6. "Do you think you honored your father's memory by trying to kill me that day?" Tatum said to the officer outside the federal courthouse just a few blocks from the Capitol.

He added: "I was one of the people you tried to kill that day, sir."

The officer in the second video appeared to be DC Police Sergeant Phuson Nguyen.

Both Gonell and Nguyen testified in the trial of Kyle Fitzsimons, who faces criminal charges including assaulting and injuring three law enforcement officers, Gonell, Nguyen, and DC Police Officer Sarah Beaver.

During the trial, Beaver described how Fitzsimons hit her on the head with a stick or a pole at the time of the attack, according to WUSA9.

Tatum has not been arrested or charged with any crime at this time related to the January 6 insurrection. NBC News reported that a federal prosecutor asked for an order to have Tatum removed from inside the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse. The outlet later reported that Tatum was ordered to be removed.

After his removal, the January 6 participant later posted on his blog denying that he "harassed Gonell," according to NBC News.

David Laufman, who is representing Gonell, told NBC News that for Gonell to be "accosted like that, within the courthouse and while he remains a live witness at trial, was outrageous and amounts to witness intimidation."

Laufman added that the court, the FBI, and the Department of Justice should look into the matter.

The US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia did not respond to Insider's request to comment.

Gonell was one of the first law enforcement officers to talk publicly about his experience on January 6. He also spoke to the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. During one of the committee's public hearings, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of the panel, recounted Gonell's discussion with the committee and said that Gonell was unable to return to his job due to injuries he sustained on January 6.

"Last month, on June 28, a team of doctors told him that permanent injuries he has suffered to his left shoulder and right foot now make it impossible for him to continue as a police officer. He must leave policing for good and figure out the rest of his life," Raskin said.

The Justice Department has charged or arrested at least 895 individuals on crimes related to the January 6 insurrection.