D.C. officer says he pleaded for his life

WASHINGTON • A police officer assaulted by rioters outside the U.S. Capitol building has described how he pleaded for his life as he heard the mob threaten to kill him with his own gun.

Michael Fanone, a 40-year-old father of four, said he was pulled into the crowd and dragged to the ground by the pro-Trump mob as he attempted to defend the Capitol building on Jan 6.

He was repeatedly tasered by the rioters, who also stole his spare ammunition and his police radio.

Some of the mob then attempted to grab his gun and screamed, “Kill him with his own gun,” he told CNN.

Fanone, who has served with the D.C. police for more than 18 years, said he briefly considered using his firearm to fight off the rioters, but realized such a move could easily backfire.

Instead, he said, he chose to appeal to the crowd's “humanity.”

“I just remember yelling out that I have kids. And it seemed to work,” he told the channel.

Footage of the assault shows Fanone and a police colleague being dragged to the ground as the rioters bore down upon them.

In one shocking clip, a man can be seen repeatedly beating one of the officers with a flag pole with a U.S. flag on it.

On Thursday, the FBI named the attacker as Peter Stager and said they had charged him with obstructing a police officer.

In a court filing, the FBI said Stager had been identified after two of his acquaintances recognized him in footage taken by The Daily Telegraph.

Fanone, a narcotics detective who usually works in plainclothes, described how he rushed to the Capitol building when he heard the building's security was being overwhelmed by thousands of violent pro-Donald Trump protesters intent on stopping Congress from certifying Joe Biden's election victory.

Putting on a police uniform, he and his partner raced to the Capitol to assist their colleagues. But soon Fanone found himself being dragged into the crowd. Eventually, a group within the rioters formed a protective circle around him until help arrived.

He suffered a mild heart attack during the assault, but said the actions of a handful of the crowd may have saved his life.

“Thank you — but f–-- you for being there,” he said of those who helped him.

It was a sentiment shared by another officer, Daniel Hodges, who was filmed being crushed against a door to the Capitol by rioters intent on gaining entry.

“They felt like they would just walk up there and tell us they're here to take back Congress and we would agree with them and we'd walk in hand in hand and just take over the nation,” he told CNN.

“But obviously that's not the case.”