Alhurra Airs Exclusive Footage of Capitol Car Chase
Alhurra cameraman Danny Farkas was on Capitol Hill shooting a story on the government shutdown on Oct. 3rd when a car followed by several police cars came into his shot. Farkas immediately started filming the scene that was unfolding in front of his camera. He was shooting approximately 100 yards away from the attempted police blockade of the fleeing car. That footage proved to be the clearest image of the Capitol Hill car chase that led to the temporary shutdown of the Capitol and surrounding office buildings.
“I was looking through my viewfinder and it is just a natural thing to keep rolling , so I was just recording what was going on” stated Farkas. “It was just instinct, I’ve had a camera on my shoulder for 40 years.”
The footage that Farkas shot was the purest image of what took place in front of the Capitol and provided insight to the police chase and shots fired that caused the Capitol police to tell everyone to shelter in place. In numerous interviews with American media outlets, Farkas stated that he was surprised at the “movie like quality” of the car chase, but after decades of being behind the camera he never even thought to take cover from the potential threat.
The exclusive Alhurra video was picked up by news outlets in the U.S. and around the world and served as the lead story on all the major U.S. network newscasts that evening.