Inmate tablets were quickly confiscated, but not before several prisoners had time to send text messages, exposing the brutal truth of what happened. Many of those messages were obtained by The Epoch Times. In exclusive interviews with The Epoch Times, the family members of several Jan. 6 prisoners share their stories.

The identities of those in the inmate text exchanges obtained by The Epoch Times have been redacted for fear they will suffer further retaliation.

'[Expletive] Just Went Down'

According to the text message sent by one Jan. 6 prisoner to a family member, "[Expletive] just went down" at the Correctional Treatment Facility in Washington, D.C., around 9:46 a.m. on Sept. 5. One of the guards had just "assaulted McAbee because he wasn't wearing a mask."

The prisoner's name is Ronald Colton McAbee. His wife, Sarah, described to The Epoch Times what happened.