Michael Fanone

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Michael Fanone
Michael Fanone 2022 Texas Book Festival.jpg
Fanone in 2022
Born (1980-09-03) September 3, 1980 (age 44)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Alma mater Ballou High School
Known forPoliceman during the January 6 United States Capitol attack
Political party Republican [1]
Police career
CountryFlag of the United States (Pantone).svg United States
AllegianceFlag of Washington, D.C..svg District of Columbia
DepartmentFlag of the United States Capitol Police.svg United States Capitol Police
Flag of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia.png Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia
Service years2001–2021
Status Retired
RankSworn in as a policeman (2001)
Awards Presidential Citizens Medal (2023)
Other work
  • Law enforcement analyst
  • Author

Michael Fanone (born September 3, 1980) is an American law enforcement analyst, author, and retired policeman. He worked for the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia from 2001 until his retirement in 2021. Fanone was present at the U.S. Capitol during the January 2021 attack, and testified with his colleagues in front of the House Select Committee investigating the attack in 2021.

Contents

Early life and education

Of Italian descent, [2] Fanone was born on September 3, 1980, and raised in Alexandria, Virginia. [3] His parents divorced when he was eight years old. Fanone attended St. Mary's Elementary School, and Georgetown Preparatory School for a year. He then attended boarding school in Maine. He left to work in construction and graduated from Ballou High School. [3]

Early career

Fanone joined the United States Capitol Police during the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. [3] A few years later, he joined the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, remaining a member for approximately 20 years. He worked primarily as a plain-clothes and undercover officer, investigating narcotics trafficking. [3]

2021 United States Capitol attack and retirement

During the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, Fanone, who was not scheduled to go on duty until the afternoon, self-deployed in response to radio calls for assistance. He was assaulted by rioters, dragged down the Capitol steps, beaten with pipes, stunned with a Taser, sprayed with chemical irritants, and threatened with his own gun after overt verbal abuse and physical assault from many attendees. Fanone suffered burns, a heart attack, a concussion, a traumatic brain injury, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the attack. [4] [5] [6]

Alongside fellow officers Harry Dunn, Aquilino Gonell, and Daniel Hodges, Fanone testified before the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, in which he discussed his experiences with rioters that afternoon. [3] In the testimony, Fanone noted:

At some point during the fighting, I was dragged from the line of officers and into the crowd. I heard someone scream—"I got one!". As I was swarmed by a violent mob, they ripped off my badge. They grabbed and stripped me of my radio. They seized ammunition that was secured to my body. They began to beat me with their fists, and what felt like hard metal objects. At one point, I came face-to-face with an attacker, who repeatedly lunged for me and attempted to remove my firearm. I heard chanting from some in the crowd—"Get his gun!" and "Kill him with his own gun!" [7]

In June 2021, Fanone asked Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans in Congress to denounce the January 6 conspiracies. [8] Due to physical and emotional injuries, he returned to limited duty in September 2021, [9] working in the technical and analytical services bureau. [9] Fanone retired from the police force due to age-related health issues in 2021. His last day on duty was December 31, 2021. [10]

On June 21, 2023, Daniel Rodriguez, one of the men who had attacked Fanone with a stun gun during the riot, was sentenced to 12 and a half years in federal prison by Judge Amy Berman Jackson. [11] On July 28, 2023, another attacker, Thomas Sibick, was sentenced to 50 months. [12] Sibick had been arrested in March 2021 but was released from jail that October to await trial under house arrest. [13] However, on January 20, 2025, Trump pardoned over a thousand rioters, including Rodriguez and Sibick.

CNN contributions and activism

President Joe Biden presents the Presidential Citizens Medal to Fanone on January 6, 2023 P20230106AS-1654 (52644829546).jpg
President Joe Biden presents the Presidential Citizens Medal to Fanone on January 6, 2023

Fanone joined CNN in January 2022 as an on-air contributor and law enforcement analyst and concluded his time in November 2023. [14] [15] [16]

Ahead of the second anniversary of the January 6 United States Capitol attack, Fanone wrote a letter, signed by more than 1,000 veterans, law enforcement, active military members and family, calling on Republican leadership in the United States House of Representatives to denounce political violence. The letter was hand delivered by military veterans to top Republican leaders, and Fanone delivered a copy of the letter to the office of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. [17] Fanone and dozens of military veterans, including House members Reps. Jason Crow, Chrissy Houlahan, Mikie Sherrill, and Chris Deluzio, also spoke at a rally in front of the United States Capitol, which was organized by the groups Courage for America and Common Defense. [18] [19]

On January 6, 2023, Fanone was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Joe Biden. [20]

In August 2023, Fanone wrote a CNN op-ed in which he called for a ban on the AR-15. [21]

Personal life

Fanone is divorced and has four daughters. [3] While he remained estranged from his ex-wife until the January 6 attack, after the attack he described her as "a pretty integral part of [his] support system". [22]

He lives in Virginia with his mother. Fanone was formerly a supporter of Donald Trump and voted for him in the 2016 United States presidential election, [6] but stopped supporting him after his dismissal of James Comey and after comments he made that he perceived to be anti-Asian. [22]

Bibliography

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References

  1. ↑ Fanone, Michael; Shiffman, John (2022). Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul. Simon & Schuster. ISBN   978-1-6680-0719-8. Post-January 6th for me and for hundreds of my fellow officers, what I found most distressing—especially as a lifelong Republican, myself—are comments made by Republican lawmakers about January 6th, which were not just shocking but disgraceful.
  2. ↑ Fanone, Michael; Shiffman, John (2022). Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul. Simon & Schuster. ISBN   978-1-6680-0719-8. My great-grandfather came to America to escape fascism. Ubaldo Fanone, an illiterate Italian shepherd, grew up in a small village near Monte Cassino, a Benedictine abbey founded in AD 529.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ball, Molly (August 5, 2021). "Officer Mike Fanone Survived Jan. 6. Then His Trials Began". Time . Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  4. ↑ Hermann, Peter (December 20, 2021). "Fanone resigns from D.C. police force 11 months after F.A.F.O. at Capitol". The Washington Post . Retrieved December 21, 2021. Michael Fanone, the D.C. police officer who was dragged into a mob and beaten during the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol and later publicly excoriated lawmakers and others who downplayed the attack, said he submitted his resignation from the force Monday.
  5. ↑ Polantz, Katelyn; Lybrand, Holmes; Rabinowitz, Hannah (December 1, 2021). "Capitol rioter describes his assault of police officer". CNN . Retrieved December 21, 2021. This is not how we back the blue. And I tased one of them," Rodriguez said in the interview. When asked what he would tell Fanone now, Rodriguez sobbed, then muttered, with his head down: "I'm sorry he had to go through that. It's not right that he had to suffer like that. And it puts fear in him and worrying about his life. He was scared for his own life and thought about having to kill us. And he was willing to die because of his beliefs, too.
  6. 1 2 Recker, Jane (August 5, 2021). "8 Gripping Details From Time's Cover Story on DC Cop Michael Fanone". Washingtonian. Retrieved December 28, 2021. Time Magazine just released a new profile on Michael Fanone, the DC cop and narcotics officer who gained notoriety for his bravery in defending the US Capitol on January 6 (bodycam footage shows that he was tased, beaten with pipes, dragged down the Capitol steps, and threatened with his own gun) and for his continuing efforts to keep the day from being forgotten.
  7. ↑ "Officer Michael Fanone testifies before House Select Committee". ABC News. July 27, 2021.
  8. ↑ Raju, Manu; Foran, Clare (June 25, 2021). "Officer injured in Capitol riot asks McCarthy to denounce GOP January 6 conspiracies". CNN . Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  9. 1 2 Hermann, Peter (September 9, 2021). "D.C. officer Michael Fanone returns to work eight months after fighting pro-Trump mob at Capitol". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  10. ↑ Mishra, Stuti (December 21, 2021). "Capitol riot officer Michael Fanone retires from police force ahead of anniversary" . The Independent . Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  11. ↑ Lybrand, Holmes (June 21, 2023). "Man who used stun gun to attack Michael Fanone on January 6 sentenced to over 12 years in prison | CNN Politics". CNN . Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  12. ↑ Young, Yasmin (July 30, 2023). "Prison For Buffalo Man Who Stole From Beaten Cop At Jan. 6 Riots". Power 93.7 WBLK. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  13. ↑ Cohen, Marshall (October 26, 2021). "Man charged with assaulting DC Police officer Fanone to be released". CNN . Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  14. ↑ Dellatto, Marisa (December 20, 2021). "Michael Fanone—Former D.C. Police Officer Injured During Capitol Riot—Joining CNN". Forbes . Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  15. ↑ Mastrangelo, Dominick (January 4, 2022). "CNN hires DC officer who testified to Jan. 6 committee". The Hill . Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  16. ↑ Zengerle, Jason (January 26, 2022). "To Hell and Back, Then to CNN". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  17. ↑ Fields, Gary (January 4, 2023). "Groups urge GOP House leaders to condemn political violence". Associated Press . Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Michael Fanone and Military Veterans Hold Rally on Eve of January 6th Anniversary". C-SPAN. January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  19. ↑ Gans, Jared (January 5, 2023). "Dem members, Fanone call on GOP to condemn political violence ahead of Jan. 6 anniversary". The Hill . Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Biden grants Presidential Citizens Medals 2 years after Jan. 6 Capitol attack". www.cbsnews.com. CBS News. January 6, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  21. ↑ Fanone, Michael (June 5, 2022). "Opinion: Here's the reason people tell me they want to buy an AR-15. And it's simply ludicrous". CNN. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  22. 1 2 Morris, Alex (October 2, 2022). "Michael Fanone Is Not Your Fucking Hero". Rolling Stone.
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