The 20-year Metro DC police veteran argues violence didnāt stop after January 6, and voters should prioritize candidates who respect rule of law
A new feature of the Trump rally traveling road show has the former president walking out on stage and intoning the pledge of allegiance. At the end of phrases, he pauses. On the big screens rally-goers see footage of January 6 defendants singing the national anthem in jail.
āYou see the spirit from the hostages,ā Trump told the crowdĀ at a rally in Dayton last month. āAnd thatās what they are, is hostages. Theyāve been treated terribly and very unfairly, and you know that. Everybody knows that.ā
He went on to promise, if reelected, on his first day in office, heād take action to help those āunbelievable patriots.ā
It all makes Michael Fanone a bit sick.
āI recognize that, very similar to like when he told the Proud Boys to āstand by,ā heās keeping this violent element of supporters in his camp, so to speak,ā he said. āAnd I think he fully intends to unleash them on the rest of us if he loses the 2024 election.ā
āOr if he wins, to be completely honest with you,ā Fanone added.
The former Washington Metropolitan Police officer served in uniform for 20 years, and on Jan. 6, 2021, he was one of the officers defending the U.S. Capitol building.
He wasnāt supposed to be there.
A vice investigator, Fanone had been planning to conduct an undercover drug buy that day, but when he heard distress calls from the riot, he rushed to the Capitol instead. As the violence unfolded, he was dragged into the crowd, beaten and tased. Fanone suffered a heart attack. One of the hardest things for him reconcile was the sense of helplessness.
āFor a cop, you know, somebody that aspires to be in control of each and every situation that we encounter, that is probably like the worst possible feeling,ā he explained. āI felt weak. I felt vulnerable.ā
āIf it wasnāt for the fact that some people in the crowd intervened on my behalf,ā he added, āYou know, to literally have to depend on the people that were attacking me ā that was a difficult, difficult pill to swallow.ā
Fanone retired from the Metropolitan police at the end of 2021. Since then heās written a book, and he appears on CNN. Now, heās putting his time into making sure Americans understand what happened on January 6, and that they think about it when they head into the voting booth.
āIn the hopes of avoiding another January 6, another event of that magnitude,ā he said, āI want to make sure that people are well informed, so that when they go to the ballot box they choose leaders ā from either political party ā that are committed to the peaceful transfer of power, to respecting the rule of law and abiding by our Constitution.ā
Shifting perceptions, conspiracy theorizing
Opinions about the January 6 riot have changed dramatically among Republicans in the years since. After insisting āwhat happened today is wrong and not what America is about,ā shortly after rioters dispersed, Ohio Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan has since taken to downplaying or deflecting the incident. The January 6 commission was a distraction, he argued, when Americans ācanāt afford to fill up their gas tank, buy groceries, or take a summer vacation with their family.ā At other points he argued the real purpose of the commission was to āstigmatize conservative voicesā or āabolish the electoral college.ā
Fanone went so far as to label Jordan an āinsurrectionistā member of congress.
ā(He) was very instrumental in the orchestrating of the electoral scheme,ā Fanone described, āand spreading the lies and misinformation that inspired his own supporters and the supporters of the former president to commit crimes.ā
While Jordan never testified before the January 6 commission, from other evidence it collected the panel concluded he was āa significant playerā in the scheme to overturn the 2020 election. According to the report, Jordan participated in several strategy meetings following the election in which members discussed encouraging Trump supporters to march on the capitol. In a text message, he proposed Vice President Mike Pence ācall out all the electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all.ā
Also from Ohio, former Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has been even more provocative about the riot. This year on its anniversary, he posted a thread of conspiracy theories, blaming the incident on lack of coverage ofĀ Hunter Bidenās laptop, or theĀ incitement of undercover FBI agentsĀ or a plot by capitol police to āentrapā demonstrators in a āpeaceful crowd.ā
Fanone dismissed Ramaswamyās statements as āpanderingā and turned his attention to Ohio Republican U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, who he said has āshown a level of sympathy to those that stormed the Capitol on January 6, that I think is highly inappropriate for someone serving this country.ā
One year after the riot, VanceĀ posted a link to Patriot Freedom Project, a nonprofit raising money for January 6 defendantsā legal bills.
āThese people are political prisoners,ā Vance insisted, āand their captivity is an assault on democracy.ā
āListen, I struggle every day with finding any degree of compassion or empathy for the people that attacked me and my colleagues at the Capitol on January 6,ā Fanone said. ābut I do recognize the fact that they were manipulated and lied to.ā
āIt doesnāt excuse the behavior,ā he added, ābut it certainly, in my mind, means that there are more people to be held accountable than just those that that were present at the Capitol on January 6.ā
Looking toward November
Fanone worries about this yearās election, he argued, ābecause the violence has never stopped.ā
AĀ Reuters investigationĀ indicated political violence in the U.S. is at its highest level since the 1970s, although the authors note unlike today, the violence then was primarily directed at property, not people. Most of the incidents were smaller scale ā lone assailants or clashes between rival groups at local protests, but they note at least 39 people have been killed as a result.
Itās unclear whether that violence will result in another incident like January 6, but Fanone warns if it does, that event will likely be much worse.
āGroups who may have toyed with the idea of coming armed to the Capitol, but did not, in the future, in order to be effective, they would feel that the use of firearms was necessary,ā Fanone said.
He argued the way to diffuse that violence is to elect people who reject violence and respect the peaceful transfer of power.
āIf your candidate ā your political partyās candidate ā canāt do that,ā he said, āI think you have an obligation as an American to vote for the candidate that will.ā
Fanone has already taken that journey. He voted for Donald Trump in 2016, but soured on the president after he fired FBI director James Comey.
āI have conversations with people often who describe themselves as a lifelong Republican or a lifelong Democrat,ā he said, āI tell people, Iām not anything other than a lifelong American.ā
Still, he acknowledged if someone wants to speak with him at all, theyāre likely open-minded. āWeāre talking about a small slice of America,ā he said. When it comes to the āharder conversations,ā he said, a win is convincing someone that the January 6 riot actually happened, it was bad and it was carried out by Trumpās supporters.
āUnfortunately,ā Fanone said, āthereās a lot of people that knowing all of that would still, and will still, support Donald Trump and vote for him in the upcoming election.ā
Follow OCJ ReporterĀ Nick Evans on Twitter.