While he was testifying before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone received a threatening voicemail that said “I wish they would’ve killed all you scumbags.”
Fanone and three other police officers who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6 gave chilling and compelling testimony on Tuesday before the panel tasked with probing the insurrection. The officers recounted harrowing scenes of chaos, violence and destruction from that day.
Fanone, during an interview on “CNN Tonight with Don Lemon” hours after the hearing, revealed that he received a threatening, explicit-filled voicemail while he was testifying before the committee.
CNN aired the entire voicemail without censoring the expletives.
“They stole the election from Trump and you know that you scumbag. … Too bad they didn’t beat the shit out of you more,” the person said in one part of the message.
Fanone, after the voicemail played out on air, told Lemon, “This is what happens to people that tell the truth in Trump’s America.”
“That simple?” Lemon asked.
“That simple,” Fanone responded.
When asked if it hurt or upset him, Fanone responded, “Unfortunately I’ve come to expect this type of response. It’s not the first time that people have expressed similar opinions to me. Unfortunately, you know, this is a, you know, there is an element in this country that believes that.”
Fanone told Lemon that he sustained a traumatic brain injury, a heart attack and a concussion during the attack, and has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
When asked how he was doing after the hearing, Fanone told Lemon “I felt good after today.”
He said the most important thing for him to accomplish during his testimony was to “tell the story of other officers’ experience that day, not just my own.”
“One of the reasons why, or at least part of the reason why, I wanted a commission or committee to investigate the activities of Jan. 6 was to illuminate all these stories of bravery, courage and selflessness from other officers, and our leadership,” he added.