Rep. Andrew Clyde, Georgia Republican, was accused Wednesday of snubbing Michael Fanone, a D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officer savagely beaten while trying to defend the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, according to the account of a Democratic colleague.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, California Democrat, said that Mr. Fanone had just ran into Mr. Clyde at the Capitol and that the Republican congressman “refused to shake” the police officer’s hand.
“Fanone introduced himself as ’someone who fought to defend the Capitol’ and put out his hand. Clyde refused to shake it,” Mr. Swallwell said on Twitter.
“To honor Trump, @housegop will dishonor the police,” Mr. Swalwell said on the social media service.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Illinois Republican, added from his own Twitter account minutes later that he called Mr. Fanone and independently confirmed the encounter as described by Mr. Swalwell.
“This is really incredible,” Mr. Kinzinger tweeted.
A spokesperson for Mr. Clyde did not immediately respond to a message requesting comment.
Mr. Fanone deployed to the Capitol on Jan. 6 as supporters of former President Trump stormed the building while Congress met inside to certify the results of the 2020 presidential race.
Video of the riot captured Mr. Fanone being dragged down steps of the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace and beaten. He previously said he suffered a mild heart attack and concussion as a result of the assault.
“I experienced the most brutal, savage hand-to-hand combat of my entire life,” he recalled in April on CNN. “Let alone my policing career, which spans almost two decades. It was nothing that I had ever thought would be a part of my law enforcement career, nor was I prepared to experience.”
Mr. Clyde said last month that video footage of the Jan. 6 riot showed what he believed to resemble a “normal tourist visit” taking place at the Capitol, Mr. Swalwell noted on Twitter.
Close to 140 officers, including members of the MPD and U.S. Capitol Police, were injured during the riot, according to the Capitol Police Labor Committee, a union that represents USCP members.
Hundreds of people have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot, include three men accused of assaulting Mr. Fanone.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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