Updated: 3:30PM
First it was edited. Then it was scraped from his YouTube account altogether. But on Wednesday, Rep. Peter King said there was nothing wrong with videotaping an action-packed raid he participated in earlier in the week with federal law enforcement in New York.
Following inquiries from TPM, the US Marshals Service on Tuesday said they were investigating whether the video King (R-NY) posted, which showed agents kicking down doors and chasing after a suspect in Brooklyn while he tagged along, violated federal policy.
The congressman’s office hasn’t returned TPM’s requests for comment, but he told CBS Radio: “My understanding is anytime somebody makes a complaint, they always looks into it and that’s what this is all about but everything I did was in full compliance with what the marshals set out as the proper procedures.”
A U.S. Marshals Service spokesman clarified that their investigation was into whether the agency did anything wrong and not about King’s actions.
“The U.S. Marshals review into the policy restrictions on ride-alongs is focused solely on our own internal processes and whether these were followed or adequate in this instance,” Jeff Carter said in a statement to TPM.
King originally posted the video on Tuesday afternoon. But after inquiries were sent to his office, the eight-minute video was quickly pulled off the internet. A short while later, an edited, shorter version appeared on King’s YouTube page, and was featured on his congressional website. The shorter version was yanked on Wednesday morning.
The second version King posted was 57 seconds shorter than the first. TPM compiled the missing footage and this is what it showed:
Clip 1: A short clip in which a member of the task force can be heard saying, “Which way is he going?”
Clip 2: A task force member kicks the front door of a building six times, eventually breaking through it so that the officers and agents can chase a suspect inside. King can be seen walking through the scene wearing a police jacket and brown hat.
Clip 3: In another short clip, King is standing in a hallway and someone can be heard saying, “Who else is back here?”
Clip 4: Inside an apartment, a task force member is seen with his knee pressed on the back of the neck of the suspected fugitive. The suspect is lying still on the floor and appears to be handcuffed. Another member of the task force can be seen talking to a woman in another room of the apartment.
Clip 5: Outside the building after the arrest, King is shown joking, “I got him.”
Clip 6: It’s hard to hear, but a task force member is chatting with the congressman. He makes a stomping motion and says, “As he was coming up, I just kicked him, kicked him down the ladder.” The rest is mostly inaudible.
Clip 7: After the raid, King speaks directly to the camera: “It was actually complicated because the phone went dead that they were tracking.”
Watch the cut clips here:
