Former D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone told CNN Sunday he plans to attend the House Jan. 6 committee’s hearings after being promised a “front row seat.”
Fanone, who was beaten by Donald Trump supporters and electroshocked with a stun gun in the course of the Capitol riots in 2021, told CNN anchor Jim Acosta he plans on “watching as most of the hearings as I can.”
“Unfortunately, I do not believe that it’ll move the needle.”
Watch former DC metropolitan police officer Michael Fanone seek advice from @Acosta ahead of the Jan. sixth hearings: pic.twitter.com/FIhQ4KS239
— CNN (@CNN) June 5, 2022
“So far as my expectations for the hearings, I mean I used to be there, I lived that have, so I’m conscious about what took place that day,” Fanone said of the Jan. 6 riots.
“I’m interested to see what [the committee has] provide you with so far as the times and weeks leading as much as Jan. 6, in addition to the aftermath, but unfortunately, I don’t think it’s going to maneuver the needle,” he added, saying he believes most Americans are “indifferent” to what took place on Jan. 6.
Fanone said some could also be apathetic about what happened that day due to “where it happened” and “the indisputable fact that it involved a political rally.”
“I feel persons are uninterested in politics in Washington D.C.,” Fanone explained. “I mean, for me, it’s deeply personal. I used to be there, I experienced it and almost lost my life, but for many Americans, they’re fearful about raising their families, making a living, sending their kids to high school, things like that.”
Because the riots, Fanone has made multiple media appearances while calling out various GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), who said “there was no riot” during a House Oversight Committee hearing in May 2021. Fanone, together with U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, Sgt. Aquilino Gonell and Metropolitan Police officer Daniel Hodges, testified in front of the House committee in July 2021 about their experiences in the course of the riots.
The 20-year police veteran resigned from the force in December 2021 after experiencing tension with colleagues and physical and emotional ailments from the riots, based on The Washington Post.
“Clearly there are some members of our department who feel their oath is to Donald Trump and never to the Structure,” Fanone told the publication. “I not felt like I could trust my fellow officers and decided it was time to make a change.”
The primary Jan. 6 committee hearing will air on Thursday and have “previously unseen material” surrounding “the coordinated, multi-step effort to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election and stop the transfer of power,” the committee announced.
