BBC News
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image captionFrom left: Daniel Hodges, Mike Fanone and Christina Laury
Police officers who were targeted by a pro-Trump mob have been speaking out about the medieval battle that unfolded on the steps of the Capitol and inside the halls of American democracy last week.
Police faced off against rioters equipped with clubs, shields, pitchforks, firearms, and metal poles stripped from seating set up for next week s inauguration.
Here s what we ve learned from their interviews with US media.
Michael Fanone, a 40-year-old DC plainclothes narcotics detective who was told to wear his uniform that day, rushed to the West Terrace of the Capitol where he took turns holding back the crowd, and resting to rinse his face of the the chemical irritants that that crowd was spraying on police.
He had been pushed, shoved and even tased multiple times. He was alone and exhausted.
Lying dazed on the marble steps leading out of the west side of the U.S. Capitol on the afternoon of Jan. 6, D.C. Police Officer Mike Fanone heard bone-chilling words coming from some of President Trump s supporters who were surrounding him. I remember guys chanting, Kill him with his own gun, says Fanone, a 19-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department.
Fanone s experience at the Capitol after pro-Trump mobs stormed it provides a shocking insight into the threats and violence faced by D.C. police officers who rushed to the building after it was breached. Crowds turned their fury on the men in blue, spraying them with mace, throwing fire extinguishers at them, crushing them in tight hallways, and even threatening to kill them.