Jan. 6 officer expresses fear, anger and betrayal after Trump pardons

On Jan. 6, 2021, rioters dragged police officer Michael Fanone down the Capitol steps, tasered him and beat him until he was unconscious. He suffered a heart attack, a concussion and a traumatic brain injury.

None of that is under dispute.

Fanone watched in horror as President Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of the more than 1,500 people he termed the “J6 hostages,” including the leaders of the extremist Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups who were serving 22- and 18-year sentences respectively for their roles in the violence and attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

Fanone is now among those fearing for their safety as Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, whose sentence was commuted, was granted meetings with Republican congressional members last week in an effort to secure further pardons for fellow Oath Keepers.

"I find fault and hold the American people responsible," Fanone says. "Not just those that supported Donald Trump, but those that sat out the last election and, quite frankly, those who didn't do enough in their own communities, didn't fight hard enough. Why is it that the ideals that we all have come to associate with ourselves as Americans like courage, honor, integrity have been replaced by indifference and cowardice?"

Could you even process at the time what happened on Jan. 6, 2021?

"I mean, yes and no. The first time that I really kind of grasped the severity of the assault was the first time I watched my body-worn camera footage, which was the day that I was released from the hospital.

"I remember gathering around one of my colleagues' desks while we pulled up the footage and, you know, a friend of mine, he was watching the footage and he actually had to step out into the hallway, and he got sick."

What happened when you heard the pardons?

"You know, my initial reaction was, I was angry that the American people had voted for this because there's no one that could tell you with honesty that they didn't know that this was coming.

"Donald Trump announced that he was going to pursue these pardons day one of his candidacy. He announced his candidacy in Waco, Texas, the scene of a bloody and violent confrontation between members of the American extremist movement and law enforcement, in which many law enforcement officers lost their lives. And this is the place that Donald Trump chose to announce his candidacy. Really not any other reason to announce it other than to ingratiate yourself into that insurrectionist, anti-government movement."

You haven't held back since the pardons. Who else are you angry at?

"Ultimately, I find fault and hold the American people responsible, not just those that supported Donald Trump, but those that sat out the last election and, quite frankly, those who didn't do enough in their own communities, didn't fight hard enough.

"Why is it that the ideals that we all have come to associate with ourselves as Americans like courage, honor, integrity have been replaced by indifference and cowardice?"

There have been threats against you, threats against your mom. She was hit with a bag of feces?

"Yeah, I mean, she's been the victim of a number of pretty vicious attacks. She was out raking the leaves. An individual drove up in a black pickup truck. He screamed at her, ‘traitor, traitor,’ and then he threw a brown paper bag containing feces at her.

"But these are the type of people that Donald Trump employs as supporters to intimidate people who would speak out against him.

"He knew what he was doing when he pardoned these individuals. He was sending his militia back out onto the streets of America to silence those that would oppose him."

You have four daughters who you were thinking of when you thought you were going to die. Other kids where you live tell your girls, 'Our family loves Trump,' or that their dad is a traitor. You say you feel helpless. What do you do with that?

"I mean, you try to do the best you can. I've exhausted every means that I have at my disposal to legally protect myself from these individuals. I tried to obtain protective orders from the individuals who assaulted me, and I was denied that capability by the Department of Justice when they refused to provide me with the information that I need.

"No one in my family is protected and quite frankly, the only people that can protect my family are me and my family members. I've told them that their best bet is to purchase a gun and learn how to use it.

"Unfortunately, I don't have the resources to relocate myself or my family. I still haven't even been able to find gainful employment. And the reality is that the American people don't want to hire somebody like me, somebody who's willing to stand up and speak truth to power because they're afraid that it, you know, the target on my back, they might get, you know, hit in the crossfire, so to speak.

"I mean, I've learned a valuable lesson about this country, and it's not that country that I thought it was."

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Editor's note: The audio version of this segment included an error regarding Leonard Peltier, the Indigenous activist whose sentence was commuted by former President Biden earlier this month. Peltier served almost 50 years in prison for the murders of two FBI agents at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. We regret the error. 

Karyn Miller-Medzon produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Michael Scotto adapted it for the web.