Author Don Winslow has put up a $20,000 reward in exchange of the name of a police officer who appeared to pose for a selfie with a rioter during Wednesday’s insurrection at the US Capitol.
Winslow initially offered $10,000, writing: “I'm offering $10,000 cash to the first person who identifies to me the NAME of this @CapitolPolice officer who took selfies while 5 people were being killed – and something that I can use to VERIFY.”
He later doubled the reward in another tweet that read: “Upping this reward to $20,000. I WANT THIS GUY'S NAME.”
Footage shared by Timothy Burke on Twitter appears to show a police officer, wearing a US Capitol police logo on his sleeve and on his hat, posing for a photo with one of the rioters on Wednesday.
The Independent has contacted the Capitol Police for comment and more information about the video.
A police officer has become the fifth person to die following Wednesday’s insurrection at the Capitol. Officer Brian D Sicknick became injured “while physically engaging with protesters”, Capitol Police told The Associated Press in a statement.
Four other people have died. Ashli Babbit, 35, was fatally shot during the riot. Benjamin Phillips, 50; Kevin Greeson, 55; and Rosanne Boyland, 34, died of medical emergencies.
Winslow, a bestselling crime novelist, is an outspoken critic of Donald Trump.
Speaking to The Independent in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election (which ended with Joe Biden being elected president-elect), Winslow said: “These are extraordinary times – our democracy is under greater threat than at any time since the Civil War. We’re either going to resume trying to live up to our democratic ideals or we’re going to slide deeper into the shoddy sort of fascism that this criminal, corrupt, racist and incompetent collection of sleazy dirtbags has been.”
