Video evidence used during the sentencing of a rioter involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack has disappeared from the government website.
A coalition of media organisations moved the court on Tuesday after discovering that nine videos, part of the case against Glen Simon, who pleaded guilty to a charge of disruptive and violent behaviour in a restricted building or grounds, have vanished and are no longer accessible in the database.
In 2022, Simon pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight months in prison.
In a press release, the group also noted that government counsel has not provided any explanation for the disappearance of these judicial records from public access.
The video exhibits are judicial records the public has a right to access under the First Amendment and common law, the statement said. Judges have ruled on a case-by-case basis that the public is entitled to view each of these video exhibits, it added.
The court filing said that, as of Tuesday, only the video files from Simon’s case seem to be missing from the database. It’s still unclear whether the Department of Justice removed them on purpose.
The Justice Department said that around 140 police officers from the US Capitol Police and the DC Police were hurt during the Capitol riot on January 6.
When President Donald Trump took over the office on January 20, 2025, he immediately issued a proclamation that claimed to “end a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begin a process of national reconciliation.”
He pardoned around 1,500 people convicted of crimes relating to January 6, including some who had committed violent acts.