GOP Rep drove 'American hero' to the brink of decking him: analyst

Former D.C. Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone, who defended Congress during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, nearly got into a physical fight when confronted by Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) and a MAGA conspiracy theorist during the testimony of former special counsel Jack Smith on Thursday, shouting expletives and looking like he was ready to throw a punch on video footage.

But there's a clear reason he got so worked up, wrote professor and public policy consultant Adam Cochran in a lengthy post to X.

"I want you to understand who that man is," wrote Cochran. "Michael Fanone ... wasn’t on shift that day — he self deployed when his colleagues call for back-up. Fanone *WAS* a Trump supporter and voter. He showed up to defend his oath."

For that, Cochran wrote, "He was beaten, tased, dragged down the capitol steps, suffered a heart attack, a concussion and a traumatic brain injury being assaulted by rioters. Due to his injuries that day he retired, unable to serve. He also lost a number of friends that day due to violence that took their lives." Nonetheless, "He stood his ground and defended the members of Congress that were inside. He’s spent every day since, denouncing Trump and the Jan 6th riots, and pushing for accountability."

During that altercation on Thursday, Cochran wrote, "He lashed out at first at statements by Troy Nehls, a Trump loyalist who pushed for a new committee to investigate Jan 6th blaming the officers for the violence, and claiming it was entrapment. Nehls has even suggested that it was the officers own faults that they got injured, or that Jan 6th was 'staged.'" At that point, Ivan Raiklin, a conspiracy theorist tied to former MAGA National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, "made further comments," which is why "the scruffy looking tattooed former Trump voter, looked like he was about to punch somebody."

"Fanone is rough around the edges — but he is an American hero!" concluded Cochran.

The Smith testimony featured the former prosecutor laying out details of the case against President Donald Trump for attempting to overturn the election and inciting the January 6 attack. During the proceedings, he took GOP lawmakers to the shed when they tried to question his motives or facts.