Trump indictment akin to killing of bin Laden, says cop injured in Capitol riot

A former Washington, D.C., police officer who was injured during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by supporters of former President Trump compared this week’s indictment of Trump to the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces in 2011.

“I felt proud to be am American, much of the way I did when when I learned that our military had killed Osama bin Laden,” Michael Fanone, who is now a contributor at CNN, said on the network Tuesday. “I just felt incredibly proud.”

Host Laura Coates pushed back on Fanone, asking him, “Those two seem comparable to you?”

He responded: “Absolutely.”

“Osama bin Laden was a terrorist who committed a horrific act against American people and against our Republic,” Fanone continued. “And I believe Donald Trump is a terrorist who committed horrific acts against the American people.”

Trump was indicted Tuesday on four counts in relation to his effort to overturn the 2020 election result, which culminated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

The former president, who is the front-runner for the Republican nomination for president in 2024, has been hit with three indictments in recent months. He and his supporters claim the charges are political in nature and meant to undermine his presidential prospects, though his lead in GOP primary polls has only grown.

Since leaving the Metro Police force and joining CNN as a contributor, Fanone has been an outspoken critic of Trump and his Republican allies.

He was among the employees at CNN who criticized the network publicly earlier this year after it agreed to host a town hall style event with the former president, arguing that the outlet was giving a platform to Trump to lie about the election and other issues of political importance.