Newly released video shows former White House physician Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) being tackled by law enforcement officers after attempting to intervene in a medical emergency at a rodeo last month, allegedly against the officers’ orders.
Jackson, who served as physician to the president from 2013 to 2018 before running for congress in 2020, is seen in the video released Monday hollering profanities at officers during the July 29 altercation at the White Deer Rodeo near Amarillo, Texas.
“You’re a fucking full-on dick,” he at one point says to an officer after being forced to the ground and placed in handcuffs.
“I did ask you to get back and you didn’t get back,” the officer responds. The police body camera and dashcam video, obtained by the Texas Tribune, does not have audio throughout most of it.
“You better recalculate, motherfucker,” replies Jackson, who repeatedly denies having heard anyone tell him to get back.
The officer insists that his assistance was not wanted and that the EMS needed room to work. Jackson argued that he had four years of medical school and four years of residency and that as an emergency room physician, EMS “work for me.”
A second dashcam video shows Jackson from a different angle as he yells for several minutes at officers and gestures in their faces while repeatedly being pulled back. After he leaves, the officers question among themselves who he is.
Jackson in a statement on Monday said he’s “glad the video is out” though he’s sorry for his crude language.
He wrote on X, the social media site previously called Twitter, that the video “shows the incompetence of the authorities and their complete disregard for the young girl in distress.”
“I will apologize for my language,” he went on, “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.”
The Carson County Sheriff’s Office said in a report of the incident obtained by The Dallas Morning News that Jackson threatened to beat up a state trooper and “aggressively advanced toward” law enforcement officers. Chief Deputy Sheriff JC Blackburn, in recalling the incident in the report, said that Jackson remained agitated even after getting in a car to leave.
Jackson “continued to yell and scream from inside the vehicle about who he was. Congressman Jackson also stated that he was going to call Governor Abbott,” according to Blackburn.
Blackburn also reported having seen Jackson drinking alcohol backstage earlier in the evening while he worked security. Jackson’s office released a statement that denied that he had been drinking.
The incident report included Sheriff Tam Terry’s recollection of the events, including a phone call that Terry said he had later with Jackson at Jackson’s request.
Jackson, Terry wrote, demanded that “there better be consequences” and warned him that he would “bury me in the next election” because of what happened.
This is not the first time that Jackson’s behavior has come under scrutiny.
His nomination for U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs by former President Donald Trump, whom Jackson is an outspoken supporter of, was withdrawn in 2018 after he faced allegations that he created “a hostile work environment,” including “excessive drinking on the job” and “improperly dispensing meds.”
Jackson denied the allegations but still withdrew his name from consideration, reasoning that it was creating a “distraction” for Trump.