Judge orders DC police to release bodycam videos related to DOGE takeover of Institute of Peace

A judge has ordered the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department to release body-worn camera footage that will shed more light on how city police officers assisted the Trump administration’s takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace last year.

During a hearing on Wednesday, Judge Darlene Soltys of the Superior Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of journalist Marisa Kabas, who sued the District of Columbia with free legal support from attorneys at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. The judge rejected the city’s arguments that the recordings were protected from public disclosure and gave the government two weeks to turn them over.

“We’re proud to have represented Marisa in this case,” Reporters Committee legal fellow Allyson Veile told The Handbasket, Kabas’s news website. “This is an important win not just for The Handbasket but for the promise of transparency in the District of Columbia. The court’s ruling vindicates the public’s right of access to body camera footage, and ensures that the public will get a full and accurate accounting of the episode at the U.S. Institute of Peace last year.”

On Friday, March 14, of last year, board members of USIP, a nonprofit think tank funded by Congress, received emails from administration officials purporting to terminate them from their positions as board members. Over the weekend, members of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency unsuccessfully attempted to enter USIP’s headquarters. On Monday, March 17, DOGE returned to the headquarters and took over the building with assistance from the D.C. police.

News of the takeover prompted an outcry among D.C. officials and local residents, some of whom questioned why the city police department chose to cooperate with DOGE despite not having a court order. 

Kabas, who has reported on the takeover, submitted a public records request to the police department for bodycam footage of the incident under the District of Columbia Freedom of Information Act. The city failed to turn over any records, prompting Kabas to file a lawsuit last June with free legal support from Veile and Reporters Committee attorney Adam Marshall.

Months later, the city released roughly five minutes of bodycam footage to Kabas, claiming that the rest of the footage is subject to exemptions under FOIA. As Kabas reported at the time, the released footage largely shows “officers moving up and down stairwells, the butts of officers in front of them, and various people in the building walking through hallways.”

Both Kabas and the city filed motions for summary judgment late last year. 

“Although the public knows the end of the story of March 17, MPD’s decision-making process and how it effectuated the transfer of USIP headquarters to the federal government are still shrouded in mystery,” Reporters Committee attorneys argued in Kabas’s motion. “[Kabas] seeks to remedy that deficit.”

During Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Soltys sided with Kabas. As Kabas reported, the judge did not buy the government’s claims that disclosing the videos would violate the privacy of DOGE employees present for the March 17 raid. Judge Soltys also confirmed through questioning government lawyers that there is currently no criminal investigation into what took place at the USIP building, Kabas reported.

The judge concluded that all of the requested bodycam footage should be released — without any redactions. The city has 14 days to release the records or file an appeal. 

Shortly after the hearing, Kabas trumpeted the outcome in a post on Bluesky. 

“WE WON!” she wrote. “Thanks to my @rcfp.org lawyers for their tireless work.”

Check out Kabas’s reporting to learn more.