He “used a transparent police shield to arrest MPD police officer Daniel Hodges in a locked door”.
The DC Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI Washington Field Office are seeking public help to identify the suspect who attacked a Capitol police officer while he was being crushed through a door during the Jan. 6 siege.
“During the insurrection in the United States Capitol, the suspect attacked and used a transparent police shield to arrest MPD officer Daniel Hodges at a door,” says the statement, released on Friday.
Two photos of the suspect were included in the release, which the police also shared on Twitter.
ABC News spoke to Hodges, 32, after a video recorded during the attack on the Capitol showed him screaming in pain as he was crushed at a door and beaten by an angry mob of supporters of President Donald Trump. Hodges stood in the way of the violent protesters as they tried to enter the Capitol to prevent the 2020 elections from being confirmed.
While Hodges was stuck in the door, screaming for help, a protester tried to tear off his gas mask and started to attack him.
“The guy in front of me, that guy, he was, he was practically foaming at the mouth. He was screaming and just grabbed my arm, grabbed my filter in my masks, started banging my head against the doorframe and yanking it out of the door. best way he could, “said Hodges. “After he took off my mask, he was also able to snatch my right stick from me and started hitting me over the head with it.”
He said some of the protesters were “absolutely crazy” and at one point he thought he was going to die.
“I thought, ‘this could be the end’ or ‘I couldn’t get out of this completely intact’,” he said, adding that, in the end, he is proud that he and his official colleagues “defended a democracy”.