Video shows Texas US Rep. Ronny Jackson berating officers after being wrestled to ground at rodeo
Aug 14, 2023, 3:53 PM
In this screen grab from body camera footage released by The Texas Department of Public Safety on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023, U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas is seen arguing with officers outside a rodeo near Amarillo, Texas, in July. The video shows Jackson being taken to the ground by officers and profanely berating them. The congressman later said he was trying to help a person who needed medical care before officers intervened. (The Texas Department of Public Safety via AP)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(The Texas Department of Public Safety via AP)
DALLAS (AP) — Police video released Monday shows U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas being taken to the ground by officers, profanely berating them and threatening to report them to the governor during an altercation at a rodeo last month.
In body camera video, the former White House physician can be seen approaching a group of people surrounding a 15-year-old girl who authorities have said was having seizures. The two-term Republican congressman later has what looks like an argument with one of the people attending to the teenager before she is put on a stretcher.
Shortly afterward, Jackson is wrestled to the ground by at least two officers. The 31-minute video, which has sound in only some portions, shows officers turning Jackson facedown and putting him in handcuffs before helping him to his feet.
“I’m going to call the governor tomorrow and I’m going to talk to him about this (expletive), because this is (expletive) ridiculous,” Jackson can later be heard telling a state trooper, his voice raised.
Jackson and a spokesperson for his office did not respond to calls and an email seeking comment Monday.
State police released the video footage after Jackson defended his actions on social media last week. He posted that local authorities near Amarillo prevented him “from giving medical care in a potentially life-threatening situation due to overly aggressive and incompetent actions” by officers on the scene.
Shortly after the encounter, Carson County Sheriff Tam Terry talked with Jackson by phone. According to the sheriff’s written report, Jackson repeatedly told Terry that there needed to be consequences for the deputies who had handcuffed him. After Terry responded that he didn’t need to be threatened, Jackson said that “he would pull hell and high water and come and ‘bury me in the next election,’” the sheriff wrote.
Jackson was elected in 2020 after gaining notoriety for his over-the-top pronouncements about then-President Donald Trump’s health while serving as a top White House physician. A year later, the Department of Defense inspector general released a scathing report about Jackson’s conduct while on the job at the White House.
The report concluded that Jackson made “sexual and denigrating” comments about a female subordinate, violated the policy on drinking alcohol on a presidential trip and took prescription-strength sleeping medication that prompted worries from his colleagues about his ability to provide proper medical care.
Jackson denied the allegations and said at the time that the report was a “political hit job.”
___ Weber reported from Austin, Texas.
