The January 6 Capitol protestor who was pushed off a 30-foot high ledge by Capitol police has just filed a lawsuit against Capitol Police Officer Bryant Williams and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
The protestor, Derrick Vargo, was blessed not to have been killed by the vicious act of violence.
He alleges that Capitol Police Officer Williams “tried to murder him on January 6th.”
Vargo is seeking monetary damages, a court order affirming that Williams attempted to murder him, and for Speaker Johnson to open an investigation into the police brutality that happened during the Jan. 6, 2021 event.
BREAKING: Derrick Vargo has filed a federal lawsuit against the Capitol Police officer who pushed him off a staircase at the Capitol, according to reporting by @CaraCastronuova of the @gatewaypundit pic.twitter.com/2olKtXL4nS
— Stephen Horn (@stephenehorn) January 3, 2024
According to Vargo, he saw someone at the Capitol protest climbing the steps to wave an American flag and decided to do it himself.
He carefully scaled the steps, when a Capitol Officer suddenly pepper sprayed him in the face. Vargo gripped onto the banister for dear life and attempted to inch his way down, when Capitol Police Officer Bryant Williams intentionally pushed him off the ledge, causing him to fall 30 feet to the ground.
Vargo luckily survived, but suffered serious injuries that still affect him to this day, primarily to his foot and back. He has undergone surgeries and required other medical treatment.
Here’s the original clip of him being shoved from the ledge by Capitol Police Officer Bryant Williams so you can see for yourself:
Derrick Vargo is suing Capitol Police for shoving him off a ledge on Jan 6.
First officer tries to pull him up, 2nd gives him a shove. No excuse for that. https://t.co/3jemNVP5tA
— Ronin Eternales (@RoninEternales) January 3, 2024
The Epoch Times reported on Vargo’s account of what happened that day:
Vargo said he traveled by bus from Ohio to Washington to hear President Donald Trump speak at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021. After the speech, he followed crowds to the Capitol, where he observed a man atop one of the scaffold structures erected for the presidential inauguration.
“He’s at the top of it with the American flag, just waving it. Everyone’s going nuts. It was so inspiring,” Vargo said. “I can’t explain it. It’s something I’ve never seen in my life. But being there when that was going on, it was humbling.”
The sight inspired him to find a spot to wave the Trump flag he bought on the walk from the speech.
“For the sake of getting my flag up there and waving it too, that’s all I wanted to do,” he said. “No, I don’t want to go in [the Capitol], and don’t want to hurt anybody. I literally just want to put my flag up, just like the guy with the American flag.”
Because police and protesters had crowded the stairs under the scaffolding that led to the Upper West Terrace, Vargo decided to scale the wall to reach the landing, away from the scuffles.
“I don’t want to go up the steps because everybody’s pushing and trying to get through the cops,” he said. “I don’t want to touch cops. I want to be completely no trouble at all. So I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to just scale this the wall over here. And I‘ll just put my Trump flag up there and I’ll wave it.’”
Video taken by media and bystanders shows Vargo climbing the narrow ledge on the outer side of the stone balustrade along the edge of the terrace landing. One police officer attempted to strike him in the head with a collapsible baton. He got sprayed in the back of the head with pepper spray.
“I want to put the Trump flag up, but I’m not trying to die,” Vargo said. “That’s when I decided I’m going to just get down. As I start to walk down, this officer, big dude, just both hands, shoves me real quick, real hard. And all of a sudden, I start falling.”
A Hard Fall, Serious Injuries
Video shows Vargo’s arms were stretched above him and his feet were poised to take the brunt of the impact. He heard wind whistling in his ears all the way down.
“I threw my arms up, grabbed some wind, and then as I came down, it was like toe tip, ankles—you know where your ankle bends and then your knee bends, your hips bend,” he said. “Then I threw my body forward and pulled in the middle of my spine. And from there, I just blacked out.”
On the way down, Vargo hoped he wouldn’t die, but prepared himself to suffer paralyzing injuries.
“Yeah, I might live,” Vargo recalled thinking. “I was like, ‘But I’m probably—definitely—going to be paralyzed.‘ That’s what was going through my head as I fell. And if I didn’t have God in my heart, literally I’d be dead. I truly believe God had me fall in a way that I’m not only not dead, I’m not only not paralyzed, but I can still walk a little.”
The crowd at the bottom of the wall became angry at police after seeing Vargo shoved off the high perch, video shows. As bystanders rushed to give him first aid, others began shouting at police officers looking over the barrier above.
A police officer wearing a bicycle helmet made what the crowd took as mocking gestures with his hands and steel baton. He also made the figure of a gun with his thumb and index finger, video shows.
Bystanders and rescue personnel loaded Vargo onto a section of the type of bicycle rack that was used as barrier fencing throughout the Capitol grounds. They carried him out to a rescue squad.
After Vargo was carried off, the crowd shouted at police standing at the bottom of the terrace wall, video shows.
“Hey, they [expletive] pushed him!” one man yelled. “They [expletive] pushed him off the stairs!”
Derrick Vargo’s lawsuit marks the first case filed against Capitol Police for the brutal events that occurred that day.
The Gateway Pundit has more to say on his decision to sue and what he hopes to accomplish from it:
Although Vargo is suing for monetary damages, he insists his motivation is being an instrument that will hopefully shed light onto January 6th and force Congress to investigate police brutality that day.
“I’m not here for any sort of money,” said Vargo. “The only reason I am suing is to hold Capitol Police and all police involved accountable. No one has sued the Capitol Police so I have no choice. Our Republican Congress members have failed us on conducting an investigation into January 6th. I want an investigation and that many of us ever wanted. If I have to be the one to sue a few days before the Statute is up, then I have no choice. I am hoping in discovery we can get text messages from all Capitol police and anyone that was on duty that day- their emails, correspondences…I want to know who coordinated the whole police reaction…who was giving orders… they should all be under investigation. All I care about is starting to put a crack into the wall of lies and shining some light onto January 6th police brutality. I want to know who was responsible for giving orders that influenced that police officer to attempt to murder me.”
He continued:
“I am suing for attempted murder. And yes, I am suing for punitive damages. Our economy is shit. These people need to be held responsible financially for what they did to me and how they ruined my life.”
You can read Derrick Vargo’s full lawsuit by clicking here.
If you would like to help Vargo fund his legal expenses, you can donate and send prayers to his GiveSendGo page.
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