Officer Michael Fanone who was beaten with an American flag and tasered by the mob recounts his story pic.twitter.com/o5iaCKivGL
— Pauly@spz_trader (@spz_trader) January 15, 2021
A police officer who was assaulted at the D.C. insurrection says a number of his attackers suggested killing him with his own gun. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone spoke to CNN about the incident.
His agency, which is separate from the Capitol Police Department, attempted to intervene when things got out of hand Jan. 6 at the Capitol Building, but they were outnumbered, he said. Documented supporters of President Donald Trump raided the premises after POTUS continued to lie that he had actually won the 2020 presidential election, and that it was being stolen from him.)
“It was difficult to offer any resistance when you’re only about 30 guys going up against 15,000,” Fanone said.
He said officers were being sprayed with chemical irritants and that rioters were armed with weapons such as pipes and batons, “some of which I think they had taken from law enforcement personnel.”
He was pulled into the crowd, with attackers taking his badge, ammunition magazines, and then — finally — went for his firearm.
“Some guys started getting a hold of my gun and they were screaming out, ‘Kill him with his own gun,'” he said.
“We got one! We got one!” D.C. police officer Michael Fanone said he heard rioters shout. “Kill him with his own gun!” https://t.co/lICYb4DHls
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) January 15, 2021
Fanone said he considered using his firearm as a matter of self-preservation, but he did not have enough rounds. He surmised that the crowd would have likely taken his gun from him.
“That would definitely give them the justification that they were looking for to kill me, if they already hadn’t made that up in their minds,” he said.
In an attempt to appeal to someone’s humanity, Fanone yelled out that he had children.
“It seemed to work,” he said. “Some people in the crowd started to encircle me and try to offer me some level of protection.” That created enough time for other officers, specifically his partner Jimmy Albright, to get Fanone out of there.
He said people have asked him his thoughts on the individuals who helped or tried to offer some assistance.
“I think kind of the conclusion I’ve come to is, ‘Thank you, but fuck you for being there,'” he said.
Capitol police, as an institution, have been roundly criticized after insurrections took over the building they are there to protect. Two members of the force have been suspended: one for taking a selfie, and another for directing the rioters and wearing a MAGA hat. At least 10 are being investigated as to their behavior surrounding the events of Jan. 6. At best, they were unprepared. At worst, certain members helped the rioters.
Five people died during the insurrection. Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, 35, was shot and killed by Capitol police when she tried to climb through a window into an area where elected representatives were sheltering from the mob. Three others–Rosanne Boyland, 34; Kevin Greeson, 55; and Benjamin Phillips, 50–died from what cops described as “medical emergencies.” The death of Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick is being investigated as a possible murder.
A second Capitol police officer, Howard Liebengood, died by suicide on Saturday. Christopher Stanton Georgia, a 53-year-old Georgia man who was arrested in D.C. on Jan. 6, also died by suicide over the weekend.
[Screengrab via CNN]
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