Police departments across the US have placed officers on leave while they investigate their attendance at last week's rally of President Donald Trump's supporters in Washington, DC, that turned into a riot.- The officers serve in police forces in the states of Washington, California, Texas, and Virginia, according to reports.
- An Army officer is also under investigation, and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel has been arrested.
Off-duty police officers and members of the military are being investigated in connection to the chaotic rally of President Donald Trump's supporters that erupted into a riot at the US Capitol last week, according to multiple reports.
Investigators from the FBI and other law-enforcement agencies are pursuing those involved in the chaos, which left five people dead.
Police officers and US troops from across the country are among those under scrutiny, with some placed on leave while their departments investigate.
- The Washington Post on Sunday named a series of bodies investigating their officers, including the Seattle Police Department, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office in Texas, and the police department in Zelienople, Pennsylvania.
- Dave Ellis, a police chief in Troy, New Hampshire, told New Hampshire Public Radio that he attended Trump's rally ahead of the attack on the Capitol but left before it turned violent. NHPR said the chair of the town's Board of Selectmen was standing by Ellis amid calls for his dismissal.
- Two police officers in Rocky Mount, Virginia, have been placed on administrative leave while their attendance at the rally on Wednesday is investigated, Reuters reported.
- The US military is investigating a psychological-operations officer named Emily Rainey, the Associated Press reported. She is accused of leading a group of people from North Carolina to the rally. "I was a private citizen and doing everything right and within my rights," Rainey told the AP on Sunday.
- Larry Brock, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, surrendered to the FBI in Texas on Sunday and faces charges related to trespassing and disorderly conduct, the Justice Department announced. Brock is thought to have been pictured in the Senate chamber last Wednesday wearing a helmet and body armor and carrying plastic ties that could be used as handcuffs.
The violence last Wednesday resulted in the death of Officer David Sicknick of the Capitol Police, who died of brain injuries after being struck on the head with a fire extinguisher by a rioter. Four others also died.
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