GOP Congressman Refused to Shake Hands With Officer Attacked in Capitol Riot, Two House Colleagues Say

Congressmen Eric Swalwell (D- CA) and Adam Kinzinger (R- IL) both publicly called out a colleague for apparently refusing to shake the hand of a police officer attacked on January 6th.

DC Metropolian Police Officer Michael Fanone has been very outspoken about his experience that day when the mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, and body cam footage released last month showed some of the people there attacking him.

Fanone has also made it clear how he feels about Republicans who have downplayed the events of that day.

One such Republican was Congressman Andrew Clyde (R- GA), who made the baffling claim “if you didn’t know the TV footage was a video from January 6, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit.”

Clyde railed against the idea that what happened that day was an insurrection, and said, “To call it an insurrection, in my opinion, is a bold-faced lie.”

Fanone was on Capitol Hill today, and Swalwell said when Fanone introduced himself to Clyde, Clyde “refused to shake” his hand.

#BREAKING Officer Fanone just ran into @Rep_Clyde at Capitol (he’s the “Jan 6 was a typical tour” guy). Fanone introduced himself as “someone who fought to defend the Capitol” and put out his hand. Clyde refused to shake it. To honor Trump, @housegop will dishonor the police.

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) June 16, 2021

Kinzinger followed up and said, “I just called Officer Fanone and confirmed this story. This is really incredible. Also relayed an interaction he had with another members Chief of Staff that was really incredibly bad and disrespectful.”

I just called Officer Fanone and confirmed this story. This is really incredible. Also relayed an interaction he had with another members Chief of Staff that was really incredibly bad and disrespectful. https://t.co/fERYjK6dWg

— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) June 16, 2021