A former Washington, D.C., police officer who was assaulted during the riot at the Capitol used a derogatory word to describe Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) after viewing a video clip of the senator fleeing the mob of rioters on Jan. 6, 2021.
Michael Fanone told a reporter after Thursday’s Jan. 6 committee hearing that Hawley “is a b****. And he ran like a b****.” Fanone, now a CNN law enforcement analyst, was reacting to a video clip played during Thursday’s Jan. 6 committee hearing in which Hawley is seen running away as rioters storm the Capitol hours after he raised his fist in support of the crowd that had gathered outside the building.
“Well, I mean, to be completely honest, to give you the first thoughts that popped into my mind was Josh Hawley is a b****. And he ran like a b****,” Fanone told a reporter.
“The fist pump, combined with what he did in the immediate aftermath, just shows the true character or lack thereof [of Hawley],” he added.
187 MINUTES: SIX KEY MOMENTS FROM HOUSE JAN. 6 HEARING ON TRUMP’S TIMELINE
Fanone, who resigned from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department last year after being beaten by Jan. 6 rioters and suffering a heart attack, attended the prime-time hearing on Thursday.
Fanone said there was an “eruption” of laughter in the room after the clip of Hawley running from the mob was played.
“Listen, obviously, I see the amusement of it, and I’m not going to fault people for finding it humorous, but that pisses me off. That guy’s a clown,” Fanone said of the reaction to the clip.
The former officer was heckled by protesters as he left the Capitol after the hearing, with one woman asking him, “Are you a real police officer?”
Quite a scene just now—
Officer Michael Fanone heckled by protesters of the Jan 6 hearing waiting outside the Capitol he fought to defend — someone with a flag pole steps in and a small skirmish ensues…
“Are you a real police officer?” pic.twitter.com/EbcJLWCqdO
— Will Steakin (@wsteaks) July 22, 2022
Fanone also went on CNN and, with cleaner language, echoed his thoughts on Hawley.
“I thought he ran like a coward,” Fanone told CNN’s Don Lemon on Thursday.
“Like many people in Trumpworld, he performs when he’s in front of a camera, and he acts very differently when he is not,” he added.
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Thursday’s hearing focused on the 187 minutes between the beginning of the attack at 1:10 p.m. and when then-President Donald Trump finally released a video telling rioters to leave the Capitol at 4:17 p.m. The committee presented evidence that Trump spent much of that time watching the violence unfold on television while declining to intervene, despite pleas from lawmakers and some of his own aides.
The committee will resume public hearings on the events of Jan. 6 in September.
