Michael Fanone, D.C. Officer Injured In Capitol Riot, Resigns From Police Force

The 20-year police veteran, who was electroshocked and badly beaten by Trump supporters, will join CNN as an on-air contributor.
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Michael Fanone, a D.C. Metropolitan Police officer who was beaten and electroshocked by Donald Trump supporters during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol ― and who went on to confront lawmakers about the deadly attack ― has resigned from the police force.

Fanone, 41, submitted his resignation Monday, three months after he returned to duty having suffered physical and emotional injuries from the riot, The Washington Post reported.

The 20-year police veteran will join CNN as an on-air contributor to discuss law enforcement issues, a CNN representative confirmed to HuffPost.

Fanone made frequent media appearances in the months after the Capitol attack, denouncing the people who participated in it and the lawmakers who have tried to minimize its seriousness. He told the Post his candor did not sit well with fellow officers.

Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, seen testifying in July before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, has resigned from the police force.
Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, seen testifying in July before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, has resigned from the police force.
Pool via Getty Images

“Clearly there are some members of our department who feel their oath is to Donald Trump and not to the Constitution,” he said. “I no longer felt like I could trust my fellow officers and decided it was time to make a change.”

In testimony to Congress this July, Fanone described the violence of Jan. 6 in detail, recalling how he was repeatedly beaten and electroshocked, suffering a heart attack as a result, and how his life was threatened with his own weapon.

“Kill him with his own gun,” he recalled people shouting after he was stripped of his law enforcement gear that day.

“I experienced a group of individuals that were trying to kill me to accomplish their goal,” Fanone said in an April interview with CNN. “I experienced the most brutal, savage hand-to-hand combat of my entire life. Let alone my policing career, which spans almost two decades.”

More than 700 defendants have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, an attempt to derail the peaceful transition of presidential power and violently overturn the 2020 election based on the fraudulent idea that Joe Biden’s win was illegitimate. HuffPost identified Daniel “D.J.” Rodriguez as the man who electroshocked Fanone, and he was subsequently arrested and is awaiting trial.

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