Cop Beaten In Capitol Riot Slams 'Coward' GOP Lawmaker Who Refused His Handshake

Officer Michael Fanone said Rep. Andrew Clyde ignored him and ran away "like a coward."

Michael Fanone, a D.C. police officer who was repeatedly beaten and electroshocked by the insurrectionist mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, called Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) a “coward” on CNN Wednesday for refusing to face him about the ordeal. Clyde famously tried to characterize the deadly riot as “a normal tourist visit,” even though he was pictured on Jan. 6 trying to barricade a door to the House gallery. He was one of 21 House Republicans who on Tuesday voted against awarding a Congressional Gold Medal to all police officers who responded to the insurrection.  Fanone visited Capitol Hill Wednesday in an effort to speak with those lawmakers and educate them on what he and his colleagues experienced, he told CNN’s Don Lemon. He said he ran into Clyde while he was there and tried to introduce himself in an elevator. “I was very cordial. I extended my hand to shake his hand. He just stared at me. I asked him if he was going to shake my hand and he told me that he didn’t know who know I was,” he said. “So I introduced myself. I said that I was Officer Michael Fanone, that I was a D.C. Metropolitan police officer who fought on January 6th to defend the Capitol. And as a result, I suffered a traumatic brain injury as well as a heart attack after having been tased numerous times at the base of my skull, as well as being severely beaten.”