Jan. 6 police officer explains the dangers of misinformation - The Sunflower

Hundreds came to hear former Washington, D.C. police officer Michael Fanone speak about his experience on Jan. 6 and what he sees as threats against American democracy.

“Humans have the ability to become incredibly violent, that’s what happened on Jan. 6,” Fanone said, addressing the crowd at WSU’s Eugene M. Hughes Metropolitan Complex.

Fanone spoke publicly about what happened at the Capitol after false narratives were being pushed by political leaders, he said. He thought it was necessary to set the record straight on what happened that day.

His first comments came just over a week after Jan. 6 in a Washington Post interview.

The event at the Metroplex was a continuation of that mission. The talk was hosted on Feb. 28 by Leading Kansas, a nonpartisan entity seeking to hold elected officials accountable to the people they serve.

The central theme of Fanone’s comments was on the importance of service, building community coalitions and opposing the glorification of violence.

Fanone’s experience of the Jan. 6 riot

Fanone was motivated to serve as a police officer after the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center. He labels himself a patriotic citizen wanting to make the U.S. a better place.

Jan. 6 was a wake-up call.

On Jan. 6, 2021, rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Fanone was a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department at the time.

Months after Jan. 6, CNN aired Fanone’s body cam footage. It gave a firsthand account of the crowd assaulting him. He suffered physical and mental injuries from the event.

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He recalled yelling that he had kids in an appeal to the mob’s humanity. One person in the crowd assisted him in getting back to his fellow officers.

Fanone said the events of that day showed him the effects of agitated political rhetoric in the real world.

“For the first time in history, the metropolitan police retreated … this wasn’t organized, this was chaos,” Fanone said.

Change through dialogue

The aftermath of Jan. 6 was no better for Fanone or his family. His mother was forced to move due to an onslaught of threats and people showing up at her home.

His children were quite young when it happened. His oldest daughter, now 23 years old, learned what happened to her father by watching it live on television.

Fanone agreed with Leading Kansas organizers’ desire to hold politicians and political leaders accountable. His perspective was that many had leveraged their credibility to sell a lie, leading to the events at the Capitol.

He pointed to comments made by U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde (D-Ga.). Clyde claimed videos of Jan. 6 showed another average tourism day in the Capitol. Photos taken inside the Capitol showed Clyde barricading doors to the House chambers to keep rioters out.

Fanone released his own body camera footage in response to Clyde’s comments.

Political figures using their platform to redefine what happened on Jan. 6 was key in affirming Fanone’s belief that change was crucially needed for the U.S. He said that if the president can openly lie about clearly recorded events, change must occur from the bottom up.

He spoke about how even in a worst-case scenario, change is always possible, even if you have to completely start over.

“You burn down a forest, there is opportunity to build something bigger and more beautiful than what you lost,” Fanone said.

For him, building toward something better was contingent on community building and creating opportunities for people to engage with politics.

That same message was voiced by Rebecca Armstrong, a member of Leading Kansas. She thinks the event is a first step.

“It helps start a dialogue,” Armstrong said.

Fanone believes that anyone can start the process of speaking to their community and making an impact.

“I’m not anyone special,” Fanone said. “I’m just someone who was placed in a particular moment at a particular time.”

He also focused on community building when speaking on recent actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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“We should all be outraged, especially for the immigrant community,” Fanone said. “Immigration enforcement is one thing, targeting these communities echoes a Jim Crow past.”

ICE has created national outrage in recent months over the violent and sometimes fatal actions of its agents, particularly in Minneapolis. Fanone said he thinks these events are due to ICE performing duties it wasn’t meant to.

“Local police do the police work, federal agencies provide resources,” Fanone said.

ICE has seen a major increase in agreements with local law enforcement agencies. The Kansas Senate is considering a bill that would provide federal agents with the same state protections as local law enforcement. SB452l has gone through the Committee on Federal and State Affairs, and will be coming up for a vote on the Senate floor.

Fanone also talked about the recent U.S. strike on Iran. The topic hit Fanone personally. Many of his friends served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they struggled to get necessary care afterward from Veterans Affairs.

He said his love for his country inspired him to serve as a police officer. Fanone said he thinks many were manipulated based on their desire to serve, then sent to fight conflicts built on false premises. He said it worries him that similar things are happening now.

“I think a lot of people who are serving our country are going to need our support,” Fanone said.

It was important to Fanone to continue aspiring to something better. He said he believes young people are central to that, though he joked he’s not sure how to do so as a 45-year-old man.

Armstrong echoed this sentiment. She said she believes many young people are starved for effective information.

“Information is essential,” Armstrong said. “We can’t have a good democracy, we can’t have a strong economy, we can’t have good healthcare or education without bonafide information.”

Armstrong thinks that without community building efforts the status quo will remain.

“When our legislators come together, they’ve been paid by very wealthy people to be in that position,” Armstrong said. “When you have 10% or even 25% of your electorate voting, those people aren’t being elected in.”