Police officer recalls moment Capitol mob yelled: 'Kill him with his own gun!'

When I marched in the women's march, I was grateful for the police presence that protected us. As I was when I joined with other people at a rally to support LGBT people after a series of violent attacks on them.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/15/police-officer-capitol-mob-kill-him-with-his-own-gun

 

 Victoria Bekiempis in New York and agencies
Fri 15 Jan 2021 12.24 EST

 

A Washington DC police officer who tried to stop Trump-supporting insurrectionists from attacking the Capitol on 6 January has revealed that some rioters shouted “‘Kill him with his own gun!” as he lay injured on the ground.

Officer Michael Fanone of DC Metropolitan police described his experience of the attack – which left at least five people dead, including a Capitol police officer – in a harrowing interview with CNN. Fanone said that the frenzied mob was ripping his gear off him, including his spare ammunition, police radio and badge.

The police officer, who has spent almost 20 years on the force, endured several Taser shocks in the back of his neck before things got worse. “Some guys started getting a hold of my gun and they were screaming out, ‘Kill him with his own gun,’” he said.

Fanone is still recovering from a minor heart attack he suffered during the assault


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“We were getting chemical irritants sprayed. They had pipes and different metal objects, batons, some of which I think they had taken from law enforcement personnel. They had been striking us with those,” Fanone said. “And then it was just the sheer number of rioters. The force that was coming from that side ... It was difficult to offer any resistance when you’re only about 30 guys going up against 15,000.”

Another Metropolitan police officer, Christina Laury ,told CNN she had arrived at the Capitol around 12.30pm and tried to keep anyone from breaking through the line.

“The individuals were pushing officers, hitting officers. They were spraying us with what we were calling, essentially, bear Mace, because you use it on bears,” Laury said.

“Unfortunately, it shuts you down for a while. It’s way worse than pepper spray … It seals your eyes shut … You’ve got to spray and douse yourself with water. And in those moments it’s scary because you can’t see anything and have people that are fighting to get through.

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