‘They’re Afraid of Their Own Voting Bloc’: Wounded Capitol Police Officer Slams ‘Lying’ Republicans Who Downplay Violence of January 6

When special prosecutor Jack Smith spoke about the 45-page indictment against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday, he included a statement about the violence of the January 6 insurrection and the heroic acts of law enforcement that day. One of the officers wounded at the Capitol that day, Officer Daniel Hodges, told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that the Republicans who tried to downplay the chaos of that day “know they’re lying.”

Hodges provided a haunting picture of how he still suffers from the trauma of that day, telling Mitchell “it never really goes away” because he follows the news, but at the same time, “it’s necessary. It’s part of the process that we need to have happen in order for accountability to take place.”

When Mitchell asked about what it felt like to hear Republicans downplay the violence, or call the mob of insurrectionists “tourists,” Hodges had a direct accusation:

They know that they’re lying when they say that. They just say it because they’re afraid. They’re afraid of their own voting bloc. They need their support. So they just say what they want to hear. The politicians say what the people want to hear, even if there is, it’s verifiably false. And it’s incredibly frustrating to hear that from our would-be leadership. And I hope that as time goes on, those lies become more and more apparent for what they are and people stop parroting them.

Hodges, who was seen in a viral video from January 6 being crushed in a door by insurrectionists, also slammed the part of the indictment in which one of Trump’s officials — Co-Conspirator 4 — said that if there were riots in response to Trump refusing to leave office, “that’s why there’s an Insurrection Act.” The Insurrection Act of 1807 gives the president permission to send U.S. military after its own citizens to quell civil unrest. Hodges told Mitchell:

It’s crazy to suggest something so casually, right? To have the U.S. military just deployed in the streets. When you grab power illegitimately like that, it’s just, it’s classic fascism.

Watch the video above via MSNBC.