Capitol riots: Officer attacked by mob describes ‘medieval battle scene’ ahead of final hearing
A police officer on duty during the January 6 assault on the US Capitol building has described it as a “medieval battle scene” in which he was beaten and tasered before suffering a heart attack.
Michael Fanone told Sky News he thought he would die after becoming detached from his colleagues and being “struck from every direction”.
The former officer says the January 6th hearings, the last of which will take place today, are important in terms of getting to the root cause of the violence and establishing whether there was co-ordination by former president Donald Trump.
The committee has collected a staggering trove of material relating to the January 6th riots, including transcripts of more than 1,000 interviews and millions of other documents. The final report is expected in December.
Recalling the events of that day in 2021, Mr Fanone says he headed for the Capitol building with his partner, Jimmy Albright, after hearing distress calls from police officers already at the scene.
He told Sky News: “We made our way to the lower west terrace, the area where the president-elect walks out of the Capitol on to the inaugural stage to take the oath of office.
“The pinnacle of the fighting that day was at that location, where about 40 or 50 DC police officers and several US Capitol police officers were trying to prevent thousands of angry insurrectionists from entering the Capitol complex.
“It was only about as wide as maybe four or five officers standing abreast, probably about 200-250 feet long, and these officers were fighting for their lives.
Former police officer Michael Fanone spoke to Sky News about being attacked at the riot
“When I got there, (police officers) had been fighting for about 90 minutes. I saw my colleagues were fatigued and injured and I felt like, since I had just got there, I was still fresh and I was going to make my way to the front.
“We had chemical agitants being used against us, CS gas, bear spray, as well as a number of different types of weapons – everything from aluminium baseball bats, metal poles, scaffolding, riot shields and other police weapons that had been taken from officers. There were also firearms present.
“There was a lot of screaming and yelling. It was really just body against body, officers pressing against the rioters trying to push them, or force them, back out of the tunnel entrance.
“If you imagine a rugby scrum – it was officers standing shoulder to shoulder, these rioters were pressing up against us, it was like a medieval battle scene. You could not slide a credit card between two people.
“The only equipment I had with me, other than my duty belt, my service weapon, was a helmet and a riot shield that covers your face.
“I was pulled away from the police line to the crowd, where I was beaten and struck with a Taser device at the base of my skull. That’s excruciatingly painful, especially when it’s done repeatedly in short succession. As a result, I suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain injury.”
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US congresswoman Liz Cheney during a hearing of the January 6 committee
Mr Fanone continued: “Once I was out in the crowd, I remember being struck from every direction with fists and metal objects. I do remember, at one point, yelling out that I had kids, trying to appeal to the humanity of some of the individuals in the crowd, and at that time I was being shot with a Taser device.
“The only thing I was thinking about was how to survive the situation. I thought about using deadly force (weapon) but I quickly came to the conclusion that would most likely not result in my survival. There were thousands of rioters and there’s specific police protocol that dictates how we can use deadly force.
“While I may have been authorised to use deadly force against some of those individuals, there was a likelihood that some people would be injured, and possibly killed, who I did not intend to use force against. I was also concerned about having my gun stripped away from me.
“I opted to try to appeal to peoples’ humanity, use some psychological warfare, and said ‘I have kids’. Some of the rioters did offer me assistance.
“There were other rioters that were fighting with them over the ability to get to me, to continue to assault me, so it was a strange dynamic for a few minutes until I was able to be rescued by my colleagues.”
A clip of Donald Trump is shown during one of the hearings
Mr Fanone, 42, says he thought his life was in danger as soon as he saw the situation that had developed at the Capitol.
He said: “I thought that, when I first walked into the tunnel, that there was a strong likelihood that this situation was much more dangerous than I had realised going into it and that there was a strong potential that I’d lose my life.”
The former police officer, now a law enforcement analyst, has given his testimony to the House committee set up to investigate the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
Ahead of its final hearing, Mr Fanone – who has written a book entitled “Hold the Line”, said: “The hearings are important because we need an investigation, not just into the criminality committed, but it’s important to get to the root causes of January 6th.
“Was there any co-ordination with elected members of our government, with members of the Trump administration or with the former president himself?
“I don’t know if you can change everyone’s hearts and minds about the reality of that day and who was responsible for it, but what you can do is ensure that people who broke the law are punished accordingly.
“That’s why our Republic is based on the rule of law – it’s the great equaliser.”
It’s 5.30am, but the car park outside a laundrette in south central Los Angeles is already bustling.
A woman is setting up a stand selling tacos on the pavement and the sun is beginning to rise behind the palm trees.
A group of seven women and two men are gathered in a circle, most wearing khaki green t-shirts.
The leader, a man named Francisco “Chavo” Romero, begins by asking how everyone is feeling. “Angry,” a few of them respond. “Proud of the community for pushing back,” says another.
Ron, a high school history teacher, issues a rallying cry. “This is like Vietnam,” he says. “We’re taking losses, but in the end we’re going to win. It’s a war.”
Francisco ‘Chavo’ Romero leads a volunteer group, attempting to warn people ahead of ICE raids
This is what the resistance against Donald Trump’s immigration policy looks like here. In the past month, immigration and customs enforcement agents – known as ICE – have intensified their raids on homes and workplaces across Los Angeles.
Since the beginning of June, nearly 2,800 undocumented immigrants have been arrested in the city, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The previous monthly high was just over 850 arrests in May this year.
Police use tear gas against protesters, angry at a recent immigration raid at a farm in Camarillo, California. Pic: AP
Videos have circulated online of people being tackled to the ground in the car park of DIY shops, in car washes and outside homes. The videos have prompted outrage, protests and a fightback.
“Chavo” and Ron belong to a group of organised volunteers called Union del Barrio. Every morning, a group of them meet, mostly in areas which have high immigrant populations.
The day I meet them, they’re in an area of LA which is heavily Latino. Armed with walkie talkies to communicate with each other, megaphones to warn the community and leaflets to raise awareness they set out in cars in different directions.
A volunteer from Union del Barrio shows Sky’s Martha Kelner how they try to stay one step ahead of ICE agents
They’re looking for cars used by ICE agents to monitor “targets”.
“That vehicle looks a little suspicious,” says Ron, pointing out a white SUV with blacked-out windows, “but there’s nobody in it”.
An elderly Latino man is standing on a street corner, cutting fruit to sell at his stall. “He’s the exact target that they’re looking for,” Ron says. “That’s what they’re doing now. The low-hanging fruit, the easy victim. And so that is proving to be more successful for their quotas.”
This man, selling fruit on a street corner in LA, is a potential target of immigration agents
In the end, it turns out to be a quiet morning in this part of LA, no brewing immigration operations. But elsewhere in the city, dawn raids are happening.
ICE agents are under pressure from the White House to boost their deportation numbers in line with Donald Trump’s campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration.
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In June, tear gas and rubber bullets were fired at protestors demonstrating against immigration raids
Maria’s husband Javier was one of those arrested in LA. He came to the United States from Mexico when he was 19 and is now 58.
The couple have three grown-up children and two grandchildren. But Javier’s work permit expired two years ago, according to Maria and so he was living here illegally.
Maria’s husband Javier was arrested after his work permit expired
She shows me a video taken last month when Javier was at work at a car wash in Pomona, an area of LA. He is being handcuffed and arrested by armed and masked ICE agents, forced into a car. He is now being held at a detention centre two hours away.
“I know they’re doing their job,” she says, “but it’s like, ‘you don’t have to do it like that.’ Getting them and, you know, forcing people and pushing them down on the ground. They’re not animals.”
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US troops accused of ‘political stunt’ after park raid
Maria wipes away tears as she explains the impact of his absence for the past four weeks. “It’s been so hard without him,” she says. “You feel alone when you get used to somebody and he’s not there any more. We’ve never been apart for as long as this.”
The family have a lawyer and is appealing for him to remain in the US, but Maria fears he will be sent back to Mexico or even a third country.
Maria fears her husband, who has lived in the US for nearly 40 years, will be sent back to Mexico
“I don’t know what to say to my grandkids because the oldest one, who is five was very attached to his papas, as he calls him. And he’s asking me, ‘When is papa coming home?’ and I don’t know what to say. He’s not a criminal.”
The fear in immigrant communities can be measured by the empty restaurant booths and streets that are far quieter than usual.
People in LA are being asked to report sightings of ICE officials so others can be warned
I meet Soledad at the Mexican restaurant she owns in Hollywood. When I arrive, she’s watching the local news on the TV as yet another raid unfolds at a nearby farm.
She’s shaking her head as ICE agents face off with protesters and military helicopters hover overhead. “I am scared. I am very scared,” she says.
All of her eight employees are undocumented, and four of them are too scared to come into work, she says, in case they get arrested. The process to get papers, she says, is too long and too expensive.
Read more from Sky News:
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Soledad, who owns a Mexican restaurant, plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive
“They call me and tell me they are too afraid to come in because immigration is around,” she says.
“I have to work double shifts to be able to make up for their hours, and yes, I am very desperate, and sometimes I cry… We have no sales, and no money to pay their wages.”
There is just one woman eating fajitas at a booth, where there would usually be a lunchtime rush. People are chilled by the raids.
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Soledad says she plans to hide her illegal workers if immigration officials arrive.
“I’ve told them, get inside the fridge, hide behind the stove, climb up where we have a space to store boxes, do not run because they will hunt you down.”
The White House says they’re protecting the country from criminals. ICE agents have been shot at while carrying out operations, their work becoming more dangerous by the day.
The tension here is ratcheting up. Deportation numbers are rising too. But the order from Donald Trump is to arrest even more people living here illegally.
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