Assaulted by pro-Trump rioters at the Capitol, officer speaks up against politicians who ‘whitewash’
"I experienced the most brutal, savage hand-to-hand combat of my entire life," Fanone said. "Let alone my policing career, which spans almost two decades. It was nothing that I had ever thought would be a part of my law enforcement career, nor was I prepared to experience."
Fanone, a 19-year police veteran, was
brutally attacked and dragged down the Capitol stairs he was defending. Rioters repeatedly beat him with metal pipes and even used stun guns. As a result of the attack, Fanone suffered both a heart attack and concussion. He now has a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. In his emotional interview with CNN, he shared that the language used by some GOP officials was not only “difficult” to hear but depicted a different reality than the truth.
“It’s been very difficult seeing elected officials and other individuals kind of whitewash the events that day, or downplay what happened,” Fanone said in response to a claim that rioters posed “zero threat.” Fanone continued, “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 co-workers experienced on the 6th" . . . .
"I experienced a group of individuals that were trying to kill me to accomplish their goal,” Fanone said during the interview. While speaking, he was clearly choked up. “I experienced the most brutal, savage, hand-to-hand combat of my entire life. Let alone my policing career, which spans almost two decades.”