A Capitol police officer is facing disciplinary action after he took a selfie with a rioter on January 6 but says he only posed for the photo to calm the suspect down.
An internal probe condemned three cops for 'conduct unbecoming' after they were caught posing for selfies during the deadly violence.
One cop - who was livestreamed posing for a photo and later nicknamed 'the selfie officer' over his behavior, claimed he'd only posed with the invader to try and calm the situation down.
That cop, who has not been named, said: 'I can’t help what they do. If you want to take a photo, I’m not going to say no because we are always told to interact and keep the situation calm.'
This Capitol police officer, later named 'the selfie cop' said he posed for a snap with a suspect in an attempt to keep the situation calm
But he was hauled over hot coals by bosses, according to documents seen by McClatchyDC.
A ruling found that 'his actions were inappropriate under the circumstances, and reflected negatively upon himself as a representative of the Department.'
A second officer - whose name has not been released - was discovered after the FBI found a selfie post on his Facebook and then contacted the Capitol Police in February.
He is one of three officers that have committed conduct unbecoming for taking photos with rioters at the Capitol.
The three identified are only half of the six cases that have been discovered by the Office of Professional Responsibility following 38 investigations.
Some cases, however, were dismissed due to lack of evidence found by investigators.
The cop is among six who have faced disciplinary action for their behavior in the riots, three of which for also taking photos with rioters
The details of the officers' behaviors of the riots were revealed in internal investigation documents obtained by McClatchy.
The department received complaints about the so-called selfie officer taking photos with rioters which were being posted on social media platforms.
The alleged officer then revealed his behavior to the department after a pending arrest warrant was issued.
He later claimed he'd only posed for the snap in a bid to later identify the rioter, but is said to have made no efforts to pass the photo on so the man could be tracked.
