The revisionist history on Jan. 6
“What I saw was just a war scene. … There were officers on the ground. … They were bleeding. They were throwing up. … I saw friends with blood all over their faces. I was slipping in people’s blood. … It was carnage. It was chaos.” — Police Officer Caroline Edwards, describing the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol
In one of the greatest acts of revisionism and selective perception in U.S. history, former President Donald Trump calls the Capitol attackers hostages and patriots and promises to pardon them on Day One of his presidency. He also defends rioters” “Hang Mike Pence.” chants and calls Jan. 6 “a beautiful day.”
Despite injuries to over 100 police officers, the Republican National Committee calls the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol a “persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”
On Jan. 6, DC police officer Michael Fanone, a father of three, was repeatedly shocked with a stun gun at the base of his skull by Daniel Rodriguez and beaten with a flagpole until he was unconscious. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and heart attack. Rodriguez was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison and yelled, “Trump won.” as he was led out of the courtroom.
According to Fanone, “So many of the people I put my life at risk to defend are downplaying or outright denying what happened.” He is determined to use his platform “for the sole purpose of making people stop describing Jan. 6 as anything other than what it was: a horrific day in which a lot of police officers almost died.”
At this critical time for our democracy, let’s heed the words of Voltaire: “Whoever can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
Terry Hansen
Milwaukee