On Jan. 6, 2021, Michael Fanone was a D.C. police officer working on a narcotics case when he got a call from his partner telling him to turn on his police radio. Three years later, he’s dedicated his life to combating political rhetoric and lies that lead to violence. He shared his experience on Charlottesville Right Now.

“I remember turning it on and hearing distress calls coming out from my fellow D.C. officers who had responded to the Capitol police’s call for assistance when the first perimeter was breached on the west front of the Capitol grounds,” he told Charlottesville Right Now. “It was at that time that I made the decision that I was going to head into work early and put on a uniform, something I hadn’t done in probably a decade, and respond to the Capitol.”

Fanone’s body-worn camera video and other videos from that day show the terror that followed as a line of police officers fought to repel an attack on the Lower West Terrace Tunnel.

“I was pulled off the police line out into the crowd. I was beaten pretty severely, and I was struck with a taser device on my neck by one of the rioters,” he said.

As a result of that attack, Fanone suffered a heart attack and a traumatic brain injury, and his life would be forever changed.

Fanone has written a book, Hold the Line: One Cop’s Battle for America’s Soul, and he has spoken out repeatedly to refute the lies of a stolen election perpetrated by former President Donald Trump and other GOP politicians who initially expressed shock and fear at the attack but soon changed their story about the day.

“What was most disturbing was seeing some of these mischaracterizing or alternative narratives about what actually happened on January 6th, 2021, start to develop, whether it’s on social media or being pedaled by actual members of Congress, some of whom were there that day in the Capitol, and who witnessed the assault firsthand,” Fanone said.

“We now know, having had that play out in more than 60 courtrooms across the country, that there was no evidence, in fact, that the election was fraudulent, but that those lies inspired many Americans to storm the Capitol in thinking that their votes had been taken away from them and that it was their patriotic duty to do so,” he said.

He says in important ways, the violence of January 6, 2021 has never actually stopped.

“Obviously the violence that day was put to bed by the efforts of law enforcement and the agencies that responded, like the Metropolitan Police Department to the Capitol. But the lies have not ceased,” he said.  “It’s very difficult for me to empathize with the individuals that stormed the Capitol on January 6, having been assaulted and nearly killed by some of  them.”

But despite his difficulty, he says they were manipulated into committing the acts.

“It wasn’t their buddy at a bar telling them that the election was stolen  in 2020. It was the president of the United States, a person who occupies the most powerful office in the world and whose words are taken very seriously by his supporters. And so in saying that the election was stolen, he essentially gave permission for those individuals to do what they did on January 6.”

Fanone says he hopes people will listen to his story and understand that this is not a political game.

“Listen, I was a career police officer. I’m someone who voted for Donald Trump in 2016. I responded to the Capitol that day without thinking of the politics or who was storming the Capitol. I just went there to assist my colleagues. I responded to distress calls, not to protect democracy, not even to protect the capitol. I just went there to protect other police officers,” he said. “And in doing so, and in learning about what happened to me and watching my body-worn camera footage, which is readily available all across the internet, maybe that would inspire some Americans to also investigate why January 6 happened. What inspired so many of my fellow Americans to attack the Capitol and to attack police officers?”

Listen to the full interview with Michael Fanone here.