Former U.S. Capitol officer reflects back on January 6 during Harrisburg visit
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM)– Saturday is the third anniversary of the Jan. 6th attack at the U.S. capitol. A police officer who was seriously injured sounding the alarm that the problems that led to that riot had not been fixed and it could happen again brought that message to the state capitol.
“What you saw unfold before your very eyes on television is what happened,” Michael Fanone said.
Video from his bodycam shows the D.C. police officer beaten and tased in the neck by the mob.
“And as a result, I suffered a heart attack and a traumatic brain injury,” Fanone said.
Fanone says what is equally traumatic is the flames of electoral mistrust continue to be fanned as another divisive election looms.
“The same rhetoric, the same lies that inspired the January 6th insurrection continue to be spoken by members of one political party,” Fanone said.
A recent AP poll shows 9 in 10 Democrats describe January 6 as quote very violent but only 3 in 10 Republicans do. What does Fanone make of all of this?
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“That’s bull****,” Fanone said. “Regardless of your political ideology, it was violent. It really happened. It was supporters of the former president and a lot of police officers were hurt in the process.”
Fanone is tattooed, likes to fish and hunt, and is a self-described redneck from Virginia who voted for Donald Trump in 2016. The former president denies wrongdoing and insists he played no role in that riot. Fanone insists otherwise.
Doug Mastriano facing Senate Ethics complaint connected to January 6
Absolutely,” Fanone said. “100%. What’s even crazier to me is how he has doubled down on that rhetoric in the aftermath.”
Now retired from policework, Fanone wrote a book about that day and visited Harrisburg as part of an educational tour, he says, to alert Americans that it could happen again.
“You know, steer clear of these conspiracy theories,” Fanone said. “People just need to listen to the facts.”
And to Fanone, the facts are simple: no election was stolen but officers were hurt because politicians said it was.
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