Washington D.C. police officers who attempted to hold back mobs of pro-Trump rioters, including one who was crushed by a door in a moment that has since gone viral, are speaking out about the experience.
“They were calling us traitors, shouting at us, telling us to remember our oath, and eventually, they attacked us,” Officer Daniel Hodges told D.C.'s NBC affiliate.
Hodges has been a patrol officer for six years. He described what it was like to try and hold back a horde of MAGA rioters.
"At that moment in the hallway where I was pinned, I was there to do my best to keep them out, obviously, and the way I was doing that was with my body,” he said. “Unfortunately, at that moment, my arms were pinned. I was unable to defend myself.”
Hodges said rioters were able to pull away his baton and beat him with it. Other officers described being attacked with Blue Lives Matter flags, having their ammunition stolen, and their badges torn away. In interviews after the event, Hodges seemed ready to go through that ordeal again if need be.
"If it wasn't my job, I would have done that for free," he said. "It was absolutely my pleasure to crush a white nationalist insurrection."
