Former Capitol police officer Michael Fanone unloads on Josh Hawley after Jan 6 hearing

The ex-Washington, DC police officer who was attacked with a stun gun during the January 6 riot said a clip of Missouri Senator Josh Hawley running from the mob he’d offered a raised fist to hours before was a show of cowardice that indicated his true character.

On Thursday, the House January 6 select committee used a portion of its eighth public hearing to present Capitol security footage of Mr Hawley running at full-tilt from the mob of former president Donald Trump’s supporters on the day of the Capitol attack.

Hours before, Mr Hawley had been photographed making a gesture of solidarity towards the crowd, but once they’d breached the Capitol defences he fled with the rest of his Senate colleagues.

Former DC Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone, who attended the hearing as a guest of the select committee, said his first reaction to the clip — which caused most of the hearing room audience to burst out laughing — was one of scorn towards Mr Hawley.

“The first thought that popped into my mind was Josh Hawley is a b**** and he ran like a b****h,” he said. “The fist pump, combined with what he did in the immediate aftermath just shows the true character or lack thereof.”

Mr Fanone, who retired from the DC police force shortly after he testified in the select committee’s first public hearing last July, said he did not fault people for finding the clip of Mr Hawley humourous, but noted that he did not have the same reaction.

“That pisses me off — that guy is a clown,” he said. “The way these guys perform in public, and then what they are in reality, you get a lot of that nonsense up here on Capitol Hill with these members of Congress that had become like a caricature in the media, but in reality, they have no character. They have no honour. They have no integrity”.