Apr 28, 2021 - Politics & Policy

D.C. police officer calls out elected officials who "whitewash" the Jan. 6 Capitol riots

Oriana González

A D.C. Metropolitan Police officer who suffered a heart attack after he was assaulted during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol told CNN on Tuesday "it's been very difficult" to see elected officials "downplay" the events of that day.

Why it matters: Though he didn't mention former President Trump by name, Michael Fanone decried "terminology that was used like 'hugs and kisses' and 'very fine people,'" to describe the mob. Trump had previously claimed the rioters were hugging and kissing officers, and that the mob presented no threat.

"It is very much not the experience that I had on the 6th. I experienced a group of individuals that were trying to kill me to accomplish their goal," Fanone said Tuesday.
"I experienced the most brutal, savage hand-to-hand combat of my entire life — let alone my policing career."

Fanone was one of the hundreds of police officers who responded to the Jan. 6 riots. He was dragged down the Capitol steps and swarmed by a mob of Trump supporters, and now says he is dealing with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, per CNN.

What's next: Fanone demanded that D.C. police release his fully body camera footage from the events "as a rebuttal to anyone claiming the mob didn’t viciously attack officers," per The Washington Post.

"I don’t know how you can watch my body-worn camera footage and deny that Jan. 6 was anything other than violent and brutal," Fanone said.

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D.C. police officer calls out elected officials who "whitewash" the Jan. 6 Capitol riots

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