Jose Luis Magana/AP
- A Washington DC police officer said it was his “pleasure to crush a white nationalist insurrection” in reference to the deadly siege on the US Capitol January 6.
- In a viral video, Officer Daniel Hodges can be seen being crushed in a doorway by a pro-Trump mob.
- Hodges said the crowd ripped off his mask, stole his equipment, and beat him up.
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A Washington DC police officer who was seen a viral video being crushed in a doorway by a pro-Trump mob during the siege on the Capitol last week said it was his pleasure to “crush a white nationalist insurrection.”
“If it wasn’t my job I would have done that for free. It was absolutely my pleasure to crush a white nationalist insurrection,” Daniel Hodges told NBC. “I’m glad I was in a position to be able to help. We’ll do it as many times as it takes.”
Hodges said he was pinned to the doorway while trying to push back the mob.
“They ripped my mask off. Stole my equipment. Beat me up. Sprayed me with everything,” he said.
—NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) January 15, 2021
On January 6, supporters of President Donald Trump breached the Capitol and clashed with law enforcement, halting the joint session of Congress as lawmakers were debating challenges to electoral votes. Five people died, including a Capitol Police officer and a woman who was shot by law-enforcement officials while participating in the riot.
Trump has since been impeached by the House of Representatives on a charge of "incitement of insurrection." The Senate will soon hold a trial and vote on whether to convict the president.
The departments of Justice, Defense, the Interior, and Homeland Security have since all assigned internal investigators to look into what information authorities had before the attack and how they prepared.
There have been several reports that indicate a lack of action on key security information, including a January 5 FBI report which warned that pro-Trump insurrectionists were planning to wage a "war" at the US Capitol the next day.
It was also found that dozens of people on the FBI's terrorist watchlist - mainly those categorized as white supremacists - were in Washington, DC, on the day of the attack.