LEXINGTON, Ky. — Three days after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol building, forcing lawmakers into hiding in an insurrection that left several people dead, questions and new details are emerging about the role some Kentuckians played in the incident.
A California woman was shot and killed by police during the breach of the Capitol, and a Capitol police officer died after being assaulted. Other people were injured as Capitol offices were ransacked and windows broken. Dozens of people have been charged, including an Alabama man who had guns and 11 Molotov cocktails in his truck.
A man who identified himself as Bill Keen, of Louisville, provided video footage to WDRB that appeared to show the moment the woman was shot and killed by police inside the Capitol.
The footage shows a loud crowd in a corridor blocked by glass doors and glass windows marked "Speaker's Lobby."
Someone yells, "Go! Bust it down!"
A woman can be seen attempting to climb through a window, and at that point, there is a bang, and the woman falls to the floor. Someone can be heard calling for a medic.
Keen posted live videos from outside the Capitol to his Facebook page, Parrot Nest, on Jan. 6. WDRB reported that he sent them videos from inside the Capitol the following day.
Keen told the Louisville television station that he went to Washington, D.C., to document the day's events as an observer, and while he said he does not condone violence or property damage, he acknowledged that he is concerned about being charged in connection with his presence at the riot.
He told the station that if he is charged, "I will accept consequences for my actions."
UK student posts video from inside Capitol
A University of Kentucky student, Gracyn Courtright, was heavily criticized on social media after she posted video from inside the Capitol during the riot and shared photos of herself outside, UK's student newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel, reported.
Courtright's Instagram and Twitter accounts were no longer publicly visible Saturday afternoon. Many images, injuries and some deaths thoroughly disproved Courtright's description of the violence and destruction inside the Capitol.
Courtright, a senior mathematical economics major from West Virginia, shared a video of a crowd chanting "USA" inside the Capitol, writing in the caption: "Nobody fighting or destroying anything some of my CNN & Fox News watchers need to think for themselves."
On another video that appeared to have been posted at 5:31 p.m. Wednesday, she wrote that from what she saw, "nobody is being violent" and that "the police officers walked around with us."
Some of the footage appeared to have been taken from near the front of a crowd of people facing off with police inside the building.
A Lexington woman, Nia Balbo, told the Kernel that she saw Courtright's posts and saved them because she wants people who participated in the riot to be held accountable.
Social media posts indicate that Courtright has been reported to the FBI. The agency said it is seeking the public's help in identifying people who instigated violence at the Capitol.
"Infamy is just as good as fame. Either way I end up more known," Courtright wrote in a photo caption after the event, the Kernel reported.
Sheriff's deputy wanted to attend 'send-off party'
A group of public defenders from Franklin County has sent a letter to Franklin County Sheriff Chris Quire about a deputy sheriff who was in Washington, D.C., Wednesday in support of President Donald Trump.
The letter signed Friday by five members of the Franklin County Trial Office calls on the sheriff to "re-evaluate the role and placement" of Deputy Jeff Farmer.
Farmer told WLEX 18 that he was not involved in any violence and that he left before reaching the Capitol steps when violence broke out.
He told the Lexington television station that the rioters "deserve to go to jail."
Farmer, who said he has taken his Facebook page down because of the reaction to his attendance, told WLEX that he had considered the march a "send-off party" for Trump.
The Franklin County public defenders aimed several allegations at Farmer in the letter, which was posted on Reddit.
"We ask you whether taking part in a treasonous riot is the sort of good decision making necessary for the title of deputy sheriff?" they wrote.
Democrats question Cameron
On Saturday, the Kentucky Democratic Party called on Attorney General Daniel Cameron to resign from a leadership position in the Republican Attorney Generals Association, saying an affiliated organization, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, hosted Trump's rally, which ended with the violence at the Capitol.
The Rule of Law Defense Fund, a fundraising arm of the attorney generals group, sent robocalls encouraging people to attend the march in Washington, NBC News reported. The calls did not promote violence or entering the Capitol, NBC said.
"At 1 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal," the calls reportedly stated. The remarks were similar to repeated false claims of election fraud that Trump and his son made to the on-site crowd and their encouragements or demands to "stop the steal" and "march ... over to the Capitol."
The Republican Attorney Generals Association issued a statement Wednesday condemning "the violence, destruction, and rampant lawlessness" at the Capitol.
"These actions are an affront to the rule of law, our Constitution, and our American political discourse," the attorney generals said.
Cameron serves on the executive committee of the Republican Attorney Generals Association and was the recipient of $3.25 million in television advertising paid for by the organization during his campaign. In November, he joined the association in support of a lawsuit over the way absentee ballots were counted in Pennsylvania.
"Will Cameron renounce his actions sowing doubt about the 2020 election and will he publicly admit that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election and are the president-elect and vice president-elect?" the Democratic party asked in a news release Saturday.
Colmon Elridge, chairman of the party, said in the statement, "Let me be clear, there is only one side in this situation. Do you side with aiding and abetting domestic terrorism, or do you disavow it? Do you take seriously your oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, or do you give a pass to those who align with your political philosophy and beliefs? Cameron must immediately explain his involvement and disavow, denounce and reject all funds and help from the organization involved."
In a tweet Wednesday, Cameron condemned the violence at the Capitol.
"What is happening on Capitol Hill today is despicable, and I condemn it," he tweeted. "We are a country founded on the rule of law. Concerns and grievances are addressed through the political process and through peaceful protests, not violence and anarchy. This must stop."
In an interview with the Herald-Leader last month, he said the Electoral College had settled questions about the outcome of the election.
"I think everything points to a peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 20," he said.
