If you only got your news from disgraced former president Donald Trump, or the Republicans who remain slavishly devoted to him, you might have gotten the impression that the January 6 attack on the Capitol was a mostly peaceful protest of entirely law-abiding citizens trying to have their voices heard. “Right from the start, it was zero threat,” Trump claimed in an interview last month, adding that his supporters were “hugging and kissing the police and the guards.” The riot “didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me,” Senator Ron Johnson opined during a February interview, later adding that had the mob been Black Lives Matter supporters, he might have feared for his life. Johnson, of course, is full of shit, as are Trump and the assorted other GOP lawmakers who have attempted to rewrite history over the last several months. And that’s upsetting to a lot of people—historians, individuals who haven’t pledged undying loyalty to the ex-president, etc.—especially one of the officers who was savagely attacked during the insurrection.
Appearing on CNN on Tuesday, D.C. police officer Michael Fanone, who suffered a heart attack and concussion after being dragged down the Capitol steps by pro-Trump supporters, shocked with a stun gun, and beaten, blasted Trump and his minions for outright lying about what occurred 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 told host Don Lemon. “Some of the terminology that was used, like ‘hugs and kisses’ and ‘very fine people,’ is very different from what I experienced and what my coworkers experienced on the 6th.” Describing the attack in vivid detail, Fanone said he “experienced the most brutal, savage hand-to-hand combat of my entire life, let alone my policing career, which spans almost two decades. This was nothing I had ever thought would be a part of my law enforcement career.”
Referring to Trump’s absurd claim that the armed insurrection was basically a friendly gathering, Fanone said, “I think it’s dangerous. It is very much not the experience I had on the 6th. I experienced a group of individuals who were trying to kill me to accomplish their goal.” According to federal prosecutors, after an individual in the mob grabbed the officer by the helmet and dragged him down the steps, a rioter shocked him with a stun gun, which triggered a mild heart attack. In the months since, Fanone, who joined the force after September 11, said he’s suffered PTSD and other psychological problems, as well as a traumatic brain injury.
According to The New York Times, at least 138 officers were injured during the attack, while two officers died by suicide in the days after. Last month Capitol police officers James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby sued Trump, accusing him of whipping his supporters into a frenzy over baseless election claims that culminated in the insurrection that left five people dead (and which Republicans let him get away with). According to the suit, Blassingame sustained injuries to his head and back and, in the following months, experienced depression and guilt for not being able to help other colleagues. Hemby suffered injuries to his left hand, left knee, back, and neck and is in physical therapy two to three times a week; he said he’s also still experiencing emotional trauma from the events set into motion by Trump.
During Tuesday’s interview, Fanone said he wants Americans to understand the sacrifice officers made to protect the Capitol during the attack. “Thousands of rioters came to the Capitol hell-bent on destruction and violence and murder, and 850 [D.C. police] officers responded there and really saved the day,” he said. “I want people to understand the stories behind those 850 officers. They are moms and dads, sons and daughters. They have children and families.”
— Inside the Messy Breakup of an OnlyFans Model and Her Über-Wealthy Boyfriend
— Wyoming Tells Donald Trump Jr. to Sit Down and STFU
— A Wave of Displaced New Yorkers Is Upending the Hamptons Social Order
— How a Group of Rich Memphians Acted on Trump’s Big Lie During Capitol Attack
— Prosecutors Are Lining Up Witnesses in Trump Investigations
— Republicans Brave Plan to Stop Mass Shootings: Do Nothing
— Next-Level Harassment of Female Journalists Puts News Outlets to the Test
— Six Photographers Share Images From Their COVID Year
— From the Archive: American Nightmare, the Ballad of Richard Jewell
— Serena Williams, Michael B. Jordan, Gal Gadot, and more are coming to your favorite screen April 13–15. Get your tickets to Vanity Fair’s Cocktail Hour, Live! here.