Some of the D.C. police officers who rushed to the siege at the U.S. Capitol last week shared stories conveying bravery and the awareness that they knew they might be required to lay down their lives to protect others on that horrific day.
“They have a heroic story, and I think the world really needs to know,” D.C. Chief of Police Robert Contee said. “Our democracy was under attack, and these members, in part, were responsible for restoring democracy in our country.”
The officers were outnumbered by the hundreds Jan. 6.
“It was just chaos, pure chaos,” Officer Christina Laury said.
Laury, a six-year veteran of the force, was assigned to the west side of the Capitol.
“I remember people swinging metal poles at us,” she said. “They were pushing and shoving. They were spraying us with bear mace and pepper spray.”
Ironically, I was being beaten with a thin blue line flag.
Officer Mike Fanone
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Officer Mike Fanone is recovering from a mild heart attack suffered during the riot.
“I got grabbed by rioters, kind of pulled out from the threshold, separated from the other officers,” he said. “I’m now assaulted from all sides. I was struck with a taser a number of times.”
A narcotics officer and 18-year veteran of the force, Fanone described the scene as “brutal, medieval-style combat.”
“I guess there was a black and white photo that was taken,” he said. “Ironically, I was being beaten with a thin blue line flag.”
“Guys were, like, grabbing at my gear,” he said. “I had my badge ripped off, my radio was ripped off, one of my ammunition magazines was stripped from my belt. And guys were trying to take my gun and chanting, ‘Kill him with his own gun.’”
“They were calling us traitors, shouting at us, telling us to remember our oath, and eventually, they attacked us,” Officer Daniel Hodges said.
Hodges, a patrol officer for six years, was crushed in a doorway.
“At that moment in the hallway where I was pinned, I was there to do my best to keep them out, obviously, and the way I was doing that was with my body,” he said. “Unfortunately, at that moment, my arms were pinned. I was unable to defend myself.”
Someone ripped off his mask.
Photos: Pro-Trump Supporters Breach the Capitol Building
“He was also able to rip away my baton and he beat me in the head with it,” Hodges said.
“I’m glad that video’s going around, because it shows people that we absolutely fought tooth and nail to keep the Capitol safe, to keep our congressmen safe and keep them out,” he said.
D.C.’s police chief noted the three officers represent just a fraction of what he called the “heroic efforts” of his department’s officers that day.
