To mark the third anniversary of the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart interviewed former Washington D.C. police officer Michael Fanone, who was brutally attacked and threatened by the mob that day. Capehart began the segment reminding viewers of everything that took place that day, before introducing Fanone.
While fighting back tears, Capehart told Fanone, “Thank you for what you did three years ago today. Please, tell me your thoughts on this third anniversary.”
Fanone had a sober response. “We are still in the midst of the fight that began on Jan. 6, 2021, and we have a lot at stake in this country. And I think that it deserves every American’s attention.”
Capehart then played a clip of Donald Trump defending the group who participated in the Insurrection as recently as Friday night. In a speech delivered in Sioux Center, Iowa, Trump said, “Those Jan. 6 hostages going to jail for 20 years, 18 years, doctors, lawyers, carpenters, electricians, truck drivers… it’s one of the saddest things. It’ll go down as one of the saddest things in the history of our country.”
Capehart then asked, “How damaging is it for Trump to label those violent rioters who were criminally charged and convicted as hostages? The man who attacked you with that stun gun was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.”
“Correct,” Fanone said. “I mean, you’ve got to think about those individuals that received those lengthy sentences. They did so because a) they engaged in an Insurrection. But their actions that day were violent, and that violence was directed towards law enforcement officers. And so… I think it’s clear that they deserve the sentences that they received.
“But by Donald Trump referring to them as hostages and speaking about them sympathetically, he’s lending his authority as the former president to their actions,” Fanone added.
The former officer concluded, “And he’s telling Americans, his supporters, that ‘I’m going to continue to support you, and I’ll do everything I can, and if I become president I’ll even pardon you if you commit acts of violence on my behalf.’”
As for his tears, Capehart clarified on Twitter that he wouldn’t have changed a thing. He tweeted, “And I’d do it again!”
Watch the full interview with Fanone in the videos above.
