DC police officer calls GOP attempts to downplay insurrection 'disgraceful'

A police officer who was brutally beaten and threatened as he responded to the Jan. 6 insurrection by supporters of Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol called Republicans who have tried to downplay the attack “disgraceful” over their efforts to whitewash history.

Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone made his remarks during the first hearing of the House select committee to probe the insurrection.

He was one of four law enforcement officers who responded to the attack to testify at the hearing, where each laid out in graphic detail the physical and mental abuse they were subjected to by the mob that tried to block certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, who is Black, described being called “n—–” by the Trump supporters.

From Dunn’s prepared testimony:

One woman in a pink MAGA shirt yelled, ‘You hear that guys, this n—– voted for Joe Biden!’

 

Then the crowd, perhaps twenty people, joined in, screaming, ‘Boo! Fucking n—–!’

 

No one had ever — ever – called me a n—– while wearing the uniform of a Capitol Police officer.

Fanone didn’t name the lawmakers who he said have denied the horrors of the insurrection.

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) has described the day’s events as a typical “tourist” visit. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) has falsely claimed the insurrectionists weren’t armed. And Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has blamed the Capitol Police themselves for the attack.

From Fanone’s July 27 testimony before the House select committee to probe the insurrection:

As my physical injuries gradually subsided and the adrenaline that had stayed with me for weeks waned, I’ve been left with the psychological trauma and the emotional anxiety of having survived such a horrific event. And my children continue to deal with the trauma of nearly losing their dad that day.

 

What makes the struggle harder and more painful is to know so many of my fellow citizens — including so many of the people I put my life at risk to defend — are downplaying or outright denying what happened.

 

I feel like I went to hell and back to protect them, and the people in this room. But too many are now telling me that hell doesn’t exist. Or that hell actually wasn’t that bad.

 

The indifference shown to my colleagues is disgraceful!