“Mom, they tried to kill me.”― Michael Fanone
CellyBlue's May Book Review- HOLD THE LINE: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul by Michael Fanone and John Shiffman
Last I did a receive of Michael Fanone’s book “HOLD THE LINE: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul.” Never in a lifetime did I think we’d be here today in this America Discussing how trump pardoned every single January 6th, Domestic Terrorist. But on January 20, 2025, 4 years and 16 days later Trump pardoned every single one of them. Those that were violent and those that were non-violent.
It has been reported that there were too many of them and trump doesn’t like to read so he literally said fu$k it. Pardon them all.
From the Domestic Violence Stalkers to the Porn Trafficking guy. Trump did not care.
But Listen to Fanone in his own words then read my book review. If you like it I encourage you to get a copy for yourselve. And not at Amazon. Go to Books A Million or Barnes and Noble.
“Republicans claim to be the party of law enforcement, I said, except when it’s politically inconvenient. I may only have a GED, I told McCarthy. But I know exactly what that is bullshit and it's disrespectful to police officers.” - Michael Fanone.
I will confess. This book is not what I expected. Michael Fanone is not who you think he is. This former plain-clothes and undercover officer, investigating narcotics trafficking. This son of a lawyer father and social worker mother makes clear at the beginning, he is in no way a “liberal.” He considers himself a redneck Moderate conservative, a high school dropout, a regular member of the DC Metropolitan Police Department, a father of daughters, he knew the streets of Washington very well. Fanone I’d say has earned his street cred.
Fanone says- “I’m telling my story the only way I know how, from the perspective of a rank-and-file officer who pounded the streets every day. I’m not fucking polished or highly educated. I’m not going to cite a bunch of statistics.”
Fanone told his story his way. Dropping more than a few f-bombs along the way.
Fanone’s story comes in three parts: Before, During, and After.
I focus on the during. The day of 1/6 changed the life of Michael Fanone, the Country as a whole, and how the world viewed democracy. Capitol Police Officer Glover sent out a 10-33. A police code 10-33 which means Emergency, all units stand. It is used to communicate a situation that requires immediate attention and assistance from the police crew.
Fanone’s partner Jimmy calls him. Dude, are you watching this? Yes. About to head in now…I grab my gear and loaded my truck. My mom came out to the driveway and insisted that I wait while she said one more prayer.
The prayer includes a reference to St. Michael, the patron saint of police officers.
Holy Spirit she said. Protect my Michael. Be in his eyes, in his seeing, in his ears in his hearing, his lips in his speaking, his heart in his thinking. St. Michael surround him. Amen.
What comes next from the words of Fanone and Shiffman should absolutely scare the hell out of everyone. The day was shear hell. As I read the words, that day magnifies 20x as to what you see on the T.V. and social media. It’s hell. It’s life or death.
Someone bellowed “kill him with his own gun.” Fanone was dragged down the Capitol steps, beaten with pipes, stunned with a Taser, sprayed with chemical irritants, and threatened with his own gun.
Yet in the mist: I believe his mother’s prayer and unknowns in the mist are the reason Michael Fanone is alive today.
The rioters seemed intent on torturing him. He thought about pulling his gun. He would be justified in defending himself, but then what? He thought of his daughters. He didn’t want to die. “I’ve got kids!” he cried.
A couple of rioters surrounded him, fighting off others. “Bring him up, bring him up,” one said. “Don’t hurt him,” said another. “Which way do you want to go?”
“I want to go back inside,” he whimpered, and that’s the last thing he remembers. The rioters lofted his limp, unconscious body to the doorway—the battle line. Albright grabbed him and pulled him back through the phalanx.
They laid him down on a luggage cart—there were no more stretchers, no more ambulances. “Take his f-cking vest off, man. He’s having trouble breathing,” Albright said frantically. He took Fanone’s gun so that he wouldn’t come to and instinctively reach for it, thinking he was still out in the crowd.
“C’mon, Mike,” Albright pleaded. “C’mon, buddy, we’re going duck hunting soon.”
“Fanone, Fanone,” another officer said. “You all right, brother?”
The world swam blurrily back into view.
“Did we take that door back?” Fanone asked.
Fanone suffered burns, a heart attack, a concussion, a traumatic brain injury, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder because of the attack.
“Mom, they tried to kill me. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Any broken bones. You should have seen their faces. Mom. They tried to kill me.”
“Less than two weeks after the riot, two officers committed suicide. The first was Capitol Police Officer Howard “Howie” Liebengood, a fifteen-year veteran and son of a former Senate sergeant-at-arms. The second was MPD Officer Jeffrey Smith, who took a fucking crowbar to the head during the riot from a Trump supporter. By year’s end, two other MPD officers who responded to the Capitol assault also would kill themselves: Kyle deFreytag and Gunther Hashida.”
“Another fallen warrior, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, died in the line of duty. On January 6th, Officer Sicknick engaged rioters and was badly injured around 2:30 p.m., when he was sprayed with chemicals by someone in the crowd. Later that evening, while still on duty guarding the Capitol, he suffered a series of strokes. He died the following morning.”
During a meeting with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, Fanone described the assault officers faced, and Graham controversially responded, “You guys should have shot them all in the head.” Yeah, that’s what he said then.
Fanone endured burns, a heart attack, and traumatic brain injuries in the attack. These have affected his overall health and well-being.
After:
On January 6, 2023, Fanone was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Joe Biden.
On June 21, 2023, Daniel Rodriguez, one of the men who attacked Fanone with a stun gun on January 6, 2021, was sentenced to 12 and a half years in federal prison by Judge Amy Berman Jackson.
Michael Fanone voted for Trump in 2016, and says he’s “grateful” for the experience, as it opened his eyes to how dangerous Trump is. “The greatest trick in history was Donald Trump convincing redneck Americans that he somehow speaks for them.”
Hold The Line is an incrediable insight through words that can be visualized scene by scene, line by line. A hard Read. But a phenominal Read.
CellyBlue-I Do Know This
I have not heard this story. This is what the press should be discussing instead of legitimizing the orange karbunkles’ insurrection.
I bought his book and read the harrowing details. I watched this INSURRECTION from my home and was appalled at what happened because of trumps lies. It was real, not a tourist visit or legitimate political discourse either. It was a REPUBLICAN INSURRECTION USED TO TRY TO STOP THE PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER. #FVCKTRUMP