The United States Department of Justice is using a video from Russian government-funded source Ruptly as evidence in prosecuting Jason Charter for allegedly burning a Washington, D.C., Confederate statue. According to the probable-cause affidavit, Charter allegedly poured an “unknown liquid” on the toppled Albert Pike Historical Statue and lit it on fire on June 20. In the DOJ’s affidavit, video evidence of the scene from WUSA9, a local D.C. news outlet, is presented alongside video from Ruptly. Ruptly is a subsidiary of RT, a Russian state-controlled network.
