DC officer beaten unconscious on Jan. 6 is back on the job

D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who was beaten and shocked with a stun gun while defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, returned to work this week, eight months after the attack.

The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department confirmed to The Hill that Fanone had returned to work “on limited duty” and had been assigned to the Technical and Analytical Services Bureau. The Washington Post first reported on his return. 

Fanone, a narcotics officer, was among the officers who testified in July, recounting his experience of having his badge ripped off of him by rioters, being beaten and shocked by his own stun gun.

The 20-year veteran of the force has said that he suffered a traumatic brain injury, a heart attack and concussion during the Jan. 6 insurrection. Since the attack he has also been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I was grabbed, tased [and] beaten — all while being called a traitor to my country,” Fanone said in his testimony to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.

“In this line of work, it probably won’t shock you to know that I’ve dealt with some dicey situations. I thought I’d seen it all many times over,” he said. “Yet what I witnessed and experienced on Jan. 6, 2021, was unlike anything I had ever seen, anything I’d ever experienced or could have imagined in my country.”

At points in his testimony, Fanone became emotional, criticizing Republican lawmakers who have sought to minimize the events of Jan. 6, calling their actions “disgraceful.”

“My law enforcement career prepared me to cope with some of the aspects of this experience,” said Fanone. “Nothing has prepared me to address those elected members of our government who continue to deny the events of that day. And in doing so, betray their oath of office.”

As of Thursday, there are five D.C. Metro police officers who worked on Jan. 6 who remain in a less than full duty status, according to the department.