4/29/21 The Insurrection Was Brutal, Injured Officer Reminds Us

One of the most vivid stories from January 6th comes from Michael Fanone, a DC policeman of two decades.

Fanone was one of the police officers who were dragged out of the Capitol building and down the stairs. A rioter grabbed his police radio and badge. Fanone was tasered several times, beaten by a man using a flagpole, and traumatized by protestors chanting "Kill him with his own gun!"

He feared for his life -- and shouted, “I’ve got kids!” (He has four daughters.) And miraculously, they stopped, gave him some air, and then helped escort him out of danger.

Later, Fanone said, “Thank you, but f*** you for being there." His injuries included a heart attack, a concussion, traumatic brain injury, and a thoroughly earned case of PTSD. He hasn’t recovered yet.

Today, he’s deeply upset about the lies of elected officials who try to downplay the savagery of that day. It wasn’t a bunch of "very fine people” sightseeing, and they didn't "hug and kiss" the police inside the Capitol building, as ex-president Trump says. It was a serious effort to overthrow the U.S. government, and the perpetrator in chief was a charismatic loser who imagines himself a king.

“I want people to understand the significance of January 6,” Fanone said Tuesday. “I want people to understand that thousands of rioters came to the Capitol hell-bent on violence and destruction and murder.”

Trump still has help for his whitewashing in the form of a chorus of liars who have learned that the more lying and the more tamping down of reality they do, the more people become accustomed to the lie and eventually believe it.

It’s not the time for the rest of us to ease up on countering the messages from these astonishingly venal liars. While they pretend the insurrection was a picnic, we pretend that we can move on, ignoring a still-present danger.

We have to keep fighting the lies. https://wtop.com/national/2021/04/dc-police-officer-its-been-very-difficult-seeing-elected-officials-trying-to-whitewash-brutal-insurrection/?fbclid=IwAR0FfQvXyA53MLrl8EyuHf7iOKtUlaNGyhInMySTcJPdjsfBz_aBTS_BsxU