ATLANTA — New video of portions of a man’s rampage at the state Capitol contradicts what public safety officials first told Channel 2 Action News in September.
In surveillance video, the man is seen throwing a mirror he kicked off a car. About 17 minutes later, inside the building, he swung a flagpole around like a javelin.
“We would have been able to show them the video if they would have come over,” Georgia Building Authority’s Gerald Pilgrim said.
Pilgrim told Channel 2 investigative reporter Aaron Diamant that no one with the Department of Public Safety had seen the surveillance video from the Sept. 30 vandalism spree at the state Capitol before DPS gave Chanel 2 Action News an official statement on how it happened.
“The statement may have been a little bit different had they seen the video first?” Diamant asked Pilgrim.
“I believe it would have been,” Pilgrim said. “There appear to be some discrepancies.”
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In their initial statement, DPS said around 11:30 p.m., Joshua Lamphouse “approached the state capitol loading dock, walked up to unit 60 (the capitol security car) and broke the side mirrors.” An officer on patrol “saw Mr. Lemhouse” then “exited his patrol car and chased after him.”
“Based on what your cameras show, is that how it happened?” Diamant asked Pilgrim.
“It does not show that at all,” Pilgrim said.
The video does show the man, identified by officials as Lemhouse, on the east side of the Capitol at 10:57 p.m. A minute later, he walks up the steps and throws a large object through the door’s glass.
About 90 seconds later, he shows up at the loading dock to smash up the security car.
At 11:01 p.m., Lemhouse appears on the west side of the building, kicks in the glass on another door, enters the capitol and spends about 20 minutes tearing things up.
In a new statement, a DPS spokesperson said:
“The information disseminated were the initial reports received from the Capitol Police Command … The information given was believed to be a factual synopsis and was prior to the completion of incident reports. Information does often change.”
Right after Diamant got off the air at 5 p.m. Monday, a DPS spokesperson emailed him again, saying it was a couple of days before the building authority got them the video.
Diamant again contacted Pilgrim, who said DPS could have watched at the building authority’s offices within hours of the rampage -- all they had to do was ask.
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