A Washington, D.C., police officer who was assaulted by rioters during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack said it’s difficult to see elected officials “downplay” the riot, which he called “most brutal, savage hand-to-hand combat” he ever experienced.
Michael Fanone, 40, who was knocked unconscious and hospitalized after rioters beat and tased him, revealed in a CNN interview that he continues to experience psychological injuries and emotional trauma, including PTSD, after he was attacked by the rioters.
“I experienced the most brutal, savage hand-to-hand combat of my entire life, let alone my policing career, which spans almost two decades,” Fanone told CNN’s Don Lemon on Tuesday. “It was nothing that I had ever thought would be a part of my law enforcement career, nor was I prepared to experience.”
“I experienced a group of individuals that were trying to kill me to accomplish, you know, their goal,” he added.
Court documents state that on Jan. 6, an officer identified as “Officer M.F.” was pulled into a crowd where he was beaten, tased, and robbed of his police badge, radio, and a 17-round magazine. The officer also reported hearing a rioter yell that he was going to take the officer’s gun and kill him. Following the assault, the officer lost consciousness and was subsequently hospitalized for his injuries, according to the Department of Justice.
Prosecutors charged Thomas Sibick, 35, who was allegedly involved in the assault, on five counts associated with his participation in the riot and the attack on “Officer M.F.” On April 16, the District of Columbia unsealed an indictment against Sibick and two others on charges related to the assault of Fanone, as well as several other crimes.
The Washington Examiner could not immediately confirm with the Justice Department whether “Officer M.F.” in the original documents is Michael Fanone.
Daniel Rodriguez, a 38-year-old California man, was also indicted separately on charges related to the assault on Fanone.
Though he named nobody in particular, Fanone pushed back on people who “whitewash” the Capitol riot, appearing to rebuke former President Donald Trump for comments he made in a March 26 interview on Fox News. In the interview, Trump called heightened security at the Capitol a “political maneuver” and said there was “zero threat right from the start.”
“They went in, and they shouldn’t have done it,” Trump said of rioters, continuing, “Some of them went in, and they’re hugging and kissing the police and the guards.”
“I’m happy that I’ve got the opportunity to speak out and talk about the events of that day. It’s been very difficult seeing elected officials and other individuals kind of whitewash the events of that day or downplay what happened,” Fanone said, adding, “Some of the terminology that was used like ‘hugs and kisses’ and ‘very fine people’ is like very different from what I experienced and what my co-workers experienced on the 6th.”
On April 22, the Justice Department said it has already charged more than 400 people in connection with the Capitol riot and that it expects to charge at least 100 more.
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The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department told the Washington Examiner that Fanone is still working but is currently on limited duty.
