Rep. Ronny Jackson — a physician and a Texas Republican — made headlines last month for being restrained by police while attempting to assist a teenage girl suffering from a seizure in his district.
At the time, the police said they needed to restrain Jackson in order to clear a path for the paramedics, at which time the congressman berated the police with profanities and threatened to report them to the governor.
Police released video of the encounter on Monday.
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In the body camera video, the former White House physician and trained emergency room doctor can be seen approaching a group of people surrounding the 15-year-old girl who authorities have said was having seizures.
Some of the video is lacking sound, but 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 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.
Two eyewitnesses — Chris and Jodi Jordan — recounted their experiences to the Associated Press.
The Jordans said that Jackson was trying to help the girl before medics arrived… and that the deputies were needlessly rough in pulling him away.
“We were just appalled,” said Chris Jordan, 48, of nearby Hereford. “The slamming to the ground I didn’t understand whatsoever.”
State police released the video footage Monday, a few days after Jackson defended his actions in a post on social media.
Kate Lair, a spokesperson for Jackson, reiterated the congressman’s comments in a statement Monday in which she said he was prevented from providing medical care to the teenager due to “overly aggressive and incompetent actions” by officers.
“Congressman Jackson, as a trained ER physician, will not apologize for sparing no effort to help in a medical emergency, especially when the circumstances were chaotic and the local authorities refused to help the situation,” Lair said.
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Jackson’s office addressed the video Monday. “I’m glad the video is out,” Jackson tweeted.
Take a look —
Additional footage of Ronny Jackson getting taken to the ground then yelling profanities at the police at the Amarillo Rodeo two weeks ago. pic.twitter.com/XdMn6R8yEE
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 15, 2023
I will not apologize for sparing no effort to help in a medical emergency, especially when the circumstances were chaotic and the local authorities refused to help the situation.
— Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) August 12, 2023
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 serving as a top White House physician under former President Donald Trump.
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Liberals on social media flocked to praise the footage.
“Drunken maniac Ronny Jackson soils himself again,” American Enterprise Institute scholar Norman Ornstein wrote on Twitter, alongside the video of Jackson.
Jackson denied that he had been drinking at the time of the encounter.
Drunken maniac Ronny Jackson soils himself againhttps://t.co/ocwiKhaMc0
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) August 15, 2023
I will apologize for my language, but I will not apologize for getting upset & speaking my mind considering the circumstances. If I had to do it again, I would still step up & act in a life-threatening situation. I will ALWAYS help someone in need. I WILL NOT apologize for that.
— Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) August 15, 2023
I was not drinking and, again, I was asked to help the teenager when no other uniformed medics were present. I’m a trained ER physician and I was doing what any doctor would’ve done in a similar situation.
— Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) August 12, 2023
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.