A Washington DC police officer who was surrounded and beaten by pro-Trump rioters at the U.S. Capitol last week reflected on his distressing experience.
“If it hadn’t been my job, I would have done it for free. It was an absolute pleasure to crush a white nationalist insurrection,” said Daniel Hodges NBC News on Thursday. “I am happy to be in a position to help. We will do this as often as necessary.”
Hodges was captured in a video being crushed at a door by a violent crowd. He said he then stole his equipment and beat him up.
“They took off my mask. They stole my equipment. They hit me. They spread it all over me,” he said.
Hodges was one of many officers who fought to prevent the insurrection on January 6. At least five people were killed during the siege, including Capitol policeman Brian Sicknick.
DC policeman Michael Fanone told CNN on Friday that a group of rioters knocked him to the ground, took his equipment and threatened his life.
“Some guys started holding my gun and shouted, ‘Kill him with his own gun,'” said Fanone.
Only after the policeman started shouting “I have children” did some people come on the scene to offer him protection.
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The riot came after President Donald Trump delivered a speech at a rally asking his supporters to “be strong” and “reclaim our country” amid their challenges to election results. The rioters then broke into the Capitol building, breaking through windows and barricades and delaying Joe Biden’s electoral certification.
Federal prosecutors found that protesters intended to “capture and murder” elected officials during the siege.
Trump received a torrent of reaction after the siege. On Wednesday, he became the first president in history to be charged twice by the House of Representatives. Since then, the president has been removed from all major social media sites and has lost commercial contracts with New York City and two of his favorite banks.
Fears that more violence could occur on the day of Biden’s inauguration prompted the government to designate the event as a “special national security event”.
According to Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee, there are likely to be more than 20,000 members of the National Guard present that day.
On Friday, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin said the United States is prepared to avoid any potential violence and that it will be a “big mistake” to plan a new attack.
“This will be the biggest mistake they have ever made. If they do, it will be a big mistake from that point of view, because we will be prepared, I can guarantee,” he said.
Newsweek contacted the White House for further comments.