Trump calls Jan 6 a “day of love.” This bodycam footage shows otherwise.

What this episode is about

The January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol is portrayed in stark contrast to President Trump's characterization of it as a "day of love," as bodycam footage reveals the intense violence faced by police officers amidst the chaos. This investigative piece highlights the discrepancies between the violent reality of that day, including injuries to law enforcement, and the ongoing attempts by Trump and his administration to reshape the narrative surrounding the events.

Key takeaways

• When the Capitol became a crime scene, Trump preferred a rerun instead of reality—a plot twist nobody signed up for.
• A mob fueled by vague orders; an outnumbered police line—January 6 was chaos, not a peaceful protest gone rogue.
• Nearly every January 6 rioter walked free post-attack, proving that 'justice' sometimes snoozes while history rewrites itself.
• The Capitol was the most filmed crime scene in America, yet the narrative's editing cuts deep—who truly controls history?
• In the face of overwhelming violence, police chose survival over arrest; sometimes, discretion is the better part of valor.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Daniel Hajes (Guest) · 10 min speaking
• Michael Fenon (Guest) · 10 min speaking
• NPR Investigative Correspondent (Host) · 5 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Daniel Hodes, Donald Trump, Michael Fenone
2. 10:00 – 15:00: Albuquerque Head

Notable quotes from "Trump calls Jan 6 a “day of love.” This bodycam footage shows otherwise."

• The January 6th attack on the US capital was an act of rioting, looting, and mass political violence. President Trump wants you to believe a different story.

  about Donald Trump · at 0:12

• Stands out more than most. It comes from the police body cams of two Washington DC police officers, Daniel Hodes and Michael Fenone. They both experienced some of the most…

  about Daniel Hodes · at 1:12

• It was at this point that a rier named Albuquerque Head wrapped his arms around Fenon's neck and pulled him back into the mob on the steps of the capital.

  about Albuquerque Head · at 13:43

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Donald Trump — Person · 1 mention · first at 0:16
• Daniel Hodes — Person · 1 mention · first at 1:16
• Michael Fenone — Person · 1 mention · first at 1:18
  The police body cams of two Washington DC police officers, Daniel Hodes and Michael Fenone. They both experienced some of the most intense violence on January 6th, defending a…
• Albuquerque Head — Person · 1 mention · first at 13:45

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 You can hear it right here. That's me screaming because the guy in the striated sweater thing is reaching underneath my visor and trying to gouge out my eye with his thumb.

0:12 The January 6th attack on the US capital was an act of rioting, looting, and mass political violence. President Trump wants you to believe a different story.

0:21 They were there with love in their heart. I call them the J6 hostages. It was a beautiful day. I pardoned J6 people who were assaulted by our government.

0:33 On the night of January 6th, when shattered glass and blood stains were still on the ground and 140 police officers were injured, Trump tweeted, "Remember this day forever." Now he and his administration are trying to reshape how people remember that day. I'm an investigative correspondent at NPR and I've watched this happen in real time. The government's database of the criminal cases deleted. FBI wanted posters removed. Video evidence disappeared. And then of course there's the riers themselves pardoned. Nearly every single one. January 6th was probably the most filmed crime scene in American history. But some footage stands out more than most. It comes from the police body cams of two Washington DC police officers, Daniel Hodes and Michael Fenone. They both experienced some of the most intense violence on January 6th, defending a tunnel into the US capital from a mob of armed riers trying to get inside. So, as

1:31 the president is trying to rewrite the history of what happened to them on tape, I sat down with Hajes and Fenown and we watched that footage together beat by beat. Hajes got to the capital grounds first. This was not long after Trump had told his followers that they should march to the capital where Congress was set to certify the election. Trump said, "We fight like hell." He also said that people would make their voices heard peacefully and patriotically. But what Hajes saw was neither.

2:03 People filed down Constitution Avenue into the Ellipse. They listened to the speakers and Trump and Trump telling them to fight. I was listening on the radio to our commander out there getting more and more agitated because things were getting worse and worse over there until eventually he called us as CD42 to come back him up at the capital.

2:21 Okay, that's a good point to I think. Watch the video. So, I'll have you put on headphones so you can hear as well. [sighs]

2:30 Yep. So, we have arrived at the capital grounds. We put on our gear. um start forming up into two columns. So, it's just, you know, 30 some odd of us surrounded by hundreds of these people who do not mean us. Well,

2:48 what's going on here, boys? Had 10,000 of them total, I believe, something like that.

2:56 So, we started putting our arms on each other's shoulders, trying not to get separated amid the crowd. That's not something that we've been drilled on. It's just something that we did spontaneously here. Uh we get attacked. Um they cut off our formation. So the leadership at the front I guess kept going and then we the rest of us got cut off from them. So we stayed behind and started defending ourselves. Someone tried to disarm me of my riot baton. I was able to retain my weapon.

3:26 It's a sensory overload like trying to figure out where a potential threat may be. I mean, I know that many of them are armed.

3:38 And someone um yeah, here tries to take my baton again. You wrestle for control, go to the ground. Uh he kicks me in the chest here. And at this point, I'm completely surrounded. Have no one around me. The medical mask I was wearing get pulled up over my eyes, so I'm blind. And on all fours, I feel like I'm about to just get destroyed.

3:59 Um This one guy helps me up. Hey, what what can we do to help you guys? No, THAT AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN.

4:07 HOW CAN WE GET YOU OUT OF HERE SAFELY? This guy is trying to uh ask me what they can do to help. And I said, "Leave." And he said, "That's not going to happen." Um, so at that point, you know, there's not much more to talk about. and we make our way to the police line where capital police and MPD are holding a line against um the asalants. They let us in and we are able to join the defense proper. At this point, I was hopeful that they would be satisfied with the ground they had taken cuz they were already breaking the law by being where they are. And I was hopeful that would be enough.

4:49 And then this is around that same time, this man with a camera is filming you and yelling at you.

4:56 Let us in our building. We're going to run over you. Do you think your little peashooter guns are going TO STOP THIS CROWD?

5:05 NO. WE'RE going in that building. Take off your badges. Yeah. So they he said, you know, do you think your peashooter guns are going to stop this crowd? meaning that they're willing to get shot to accomplish their goal to go inside the building and carry out whatever violence they had in mind.

5:23 A lot of people who maybe didn't know the context of January 6 would ask why were there's no arrests? Yeah.

5:29 Could you just explain that? Sure. Um to make an arrest you um it require usually at least two officers and once you have someone under arrest you are responsible for them. you are responsible for their health and their safety and you're responsible for transporting them securely to um jail to where they would be processed. I mean, we couldn't guarantee our own health and safety, let alone those of anyone else. And if we were to try to make arrests, everyone every arrest would require at least one officer leaving the scene. And we needed every single officer we had.

6:08 So it was just it was not feasible to make any arrests. It was it would be irresponsible. It would be ineffective to our own defense. It would be dangerous. Um it was just not possible. Yeah. There's there's so many of them and so few of us that you know once we lose the line there's no way of getting it back. So they break through and it devolves in the the west front. and it devolves into a series of pitched battles in between individuals and I can't commit to an attack on anyone because once I do 10 more people are going to come at me. Um, this guy pushes me in the chest pushing me back.

6:46 GET OUT OF HERE. THIS champ over here thinks the capital belongs to him. And here I get pinned against this waist high wall. Um, you can hear it right here. Um, that's me screaming because someone the guy in the striated um sweater thing is reaching underneath my visor and trying to gouge out my eye with his thumb uh while other people hold me down. But I was able to shake him off before any permanent damage was done. But they they had already taken the lower west terrace at that point and we couldn't um mount an effective defense there.

7:26 So we started retreating. Now at presidential inaugurations, this is the place where presidents typically exit the capital. They come out on stage before taking the oath of office. On January 6th, it was a crime scene. Police tried to lock the glass doors to keep the mob out, but it did not stop them. He's got a weapon in his hand.

7:56 Okay. Hold the line. A couple dozen of us versus 10,000 of them trying to force the way in. Every time one of us couldn't take it anymore. We fell to the back and they did the same for them. But we're going to run out of steam a lot sooner than they will because they have essentially unlimited reinforcements. So, at some point it becomes your turn towards the front.

8:23 Correct. Yeah. Um, as people fall back, I move up until I'm at the front of the formation and trying to um keep them out. Once I was at the front of the formation, I tried bracing myself against a metal door frame because every time they would push against us, it would push against the officers behind us. Unfortunately, once I had done that, um the momentum had shifted and I was um getting pinned against the metal door frame. Someone with a police shield was on my left keeping me pinned against it cuz the video doesn't really do it justice how much of a sensory overload it was in that tunnel.

9:09 And they're yelling, "Join us." Yeah. A lot of them thought that they would just walk up and say, "We're here to stop the steel." and that would we'd immediately be best friends and walk into the capital hand in hand and you know arrest Congress or whatever they thought but uh it's not not the way things turned out and I could you know feel getting weaker and weaker and I was afraid that I might you know lose consciousness or um be killed there. Um

9:35 you were afraid you could be killed. Oh sure. Yeah. I was unable to help myself. I did the only thing I could do at that point and started calling for help.

9:44 [screaming] IT. [screaming] UM, thankfully [clears throat] the officers behind me heard me and they were able to take enough pressure off my side to pull me out and get me back to the rear. Let's go get water. Let's go get water. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.

10:22 Great job, Good job, Right. Good job. So, yeah. What do you see in your eyes in that moment when you're sure you're just

10:39 uh tired, you know, relieved to be Yeah. off the front line. Um just hurt hurting. Behind the police line, Daniel Hodgees took some time to recover from the assaults, from the riers in the tunnel, and from earlier that day. All at the hands of people Trump now calls patriots. Like many other officers, he still remained at the capital until late that night to help police eventually secure the building. But at this point, the violence was far from over. As Hodes was pulled back, officer Michael Fenon was just arriving at the tunnel. You can see Hodgees on Fenon's body cam. Fenon patted him on the shoulder as he came behind the line.

11:24 Allies of the president have said that Fenown exaggerated the violence on January 6th. Fox News said he deserved an award for acting. One proTrump writer who's been invited to the Trump Justice Department calls him a crisis actor. But the video from Fennown's body cam presented in court tells a different story. see for yourself.

11:48 As you're walking down, there are adjacent hallways and they were filled with injured officers, guys who under normal circumstances would have been transported to the hospital. It's just not a scene that I had ever experienced in in 20 years of inner city policing. And you know, I work narcotics. I've seen a few things. Let's get some fresh faces up front. FRESH FACES UP FRONT.

12:16 And you're about to get your first look at the really the riers once you get to the front.

12:21 I felt like, hey, you know, I just got here. Um, these guys have been fighting for hours. The least I could do is go to the front line so that somebody who's been there for a couple hours can either go to the back or get relieved or, you know, do something. Come on.

12:41 YOU GOT FIGHT THE RIGHT PEOPLE. COME ON. I remember trying to like appeal to them and say I said like we have these we have injured officers here.

12:52 It just seemed to set these guys off. [snorts] And immediately after that it's like all hell broke loose and we start into the the melee.

13:02 You're literally living second by second in that moment. You know, I was just fully focused on doing everything that I could do to get these guys the hell out of my way and get them outside.

13:19 We started like we lost, you know, a few feet uh before we started to somehow just gain traction and and push him back.

13:29 Push him back. [screaming] up. I start to get pushed. The momentum of the officers from behind me keeps going forward.

13:43 It was at this point that a rier named Albuquerque Head wrapped his arms around Fenon's neck and pulled him back into the mob on the steps of the capital.

13:54 I got one. I got officers. What? Get them out of here. Get the out of here. Yep. This is the first time I realized, you know, how big that crowd was. I mean, it was just um I mean, you see it just like you see it in the in the photographs of the day. It's just a sea of people and flags and I mean just the most surreal um you know optic imaginable. And on top of that, you I'm trying to take that in and also you know fight to stay alive. Um you know when I'm out in this crowd like I'm being assaulted from every direction. So I I'm trying to like keep people away from my weapon. I'm trying to keep people away from me. I'm exhausted and um yeah, it was uh it was not a good feeling.

15:06 You've been an officer for a long time. You've seen a lot of sketchy situations. Is anything remotely compare to this moment?

15:13 No. Uh you know, again, I I've seen some things and I never ever once felt like I was not in control of what was happening. This was the first time I had experienced a situation in which I felt as though, you know, there was very little I could do.

15:33 While Fenone was pinned by the crowd, a rider named Daniel Rodriguez drove an electroshock device into Fenown's neck two times. like I was trying to appeal to the crowd and I said I have kids um in the hopes that you know in that moment maybe um that would flick a switch at least in some guys uh heads and um and it did. I mean, there were there were some individuals in the crowd that um you know were were trying to assist me. Um but there were a hell of a whole lot more that were trying to kill me. The last thing that I really remember was uh I remember somebody asking me where I wanted to go after they had kind of created this um you know barrier around me and uh and I said I wanted to go back inside and um that's when like my recollection goes from so vivid to like nothing.

16:58 Which way do YOU WANT TO GO? YOU WANT ME TO GO back inside? You want to go back inside? SIT DOWN.

17:03 GET HIM UP. We need now. We can take him. They're lifting him. Huh? Take the leg. the leg. How can I get away?

17:29 I GOT IT. IT'S MY PARTNER. Come on. Turn right. Turn right. This way. Where are we going? The sound door.

17:42 Mike, stay in there, buddy. Mike, it's Jimmy. I'm here. Hey, take his vest off, dude. He's having trouble breathing. Hold on. [snorts] Take his vest off.

17:54 Mike. Mike, I'm here for you, buddy. Come on, dude. Watch out. Watch out. For no, wake up, brother.

18:16 Talk to me, man. Come on, Mike. Come on, buddy. We're going duck hunting soon. For no, for them. You all right, brother? Didn't

18:25 take that door back? Yeah, we did. Yes, we did. We took the door back from the outside.

18:31 Do you even remember saying that? No. No. No. But I mean um it's like um in character. [clears throat] I um I was always like a pretty mission focused cop and um that was you know that was a goal. Plus like I mean I guess like subconsciously I was thinking if I just went through all of that and we lost the goddamn door Officer Michael Fennown was able to walk away from the capital but he later checked into a hospital. There, doctors discovered that he had suffered a mild heart attack. For more than an hour, other officers continued to fight to defend the tunnel at the lower west terrace. Hajes was still at the capital when backup finally arrived and law enforcement was able to regain control of the building.

19:32 And I think it was Virginia State Police, bunch of, you know, 6'5 cornfed troopers, uh, finally came and helped clear out the tunnel. Um, I was I was not out there for that, but I I've seen video and that was nice. Um, so eventually everyone else was able to clear the grounds and we we stayed there until it was clear that the grounds were secure.

19:57 After the capital grounds were secured at about 3:45 the following morning, Congress certified the 2020 election. Hajes went home. He visited a police medical clinic the following day. I was beaten um punched kicked um thrown to the ground. Uh, people were had lacerations, um, kind of anything you can imagine really except getting shot. Um, this is a very violent day.

20:27 You know, I was later diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury. Um and and I had a lot of um cognitive issues, symptoms after that.

20:44 For how long? Probably about a year. I still I mean there's some stuff I don't think that's ever going to go away. Since January 6th, both Fenon and Hajes have been outspoken about their experiences that day, and as a result, they've received harassment, even death threats. Fenon's mother has even been harassed at her home over January 6th. Fenon retired from the police department less than a year after the riot. And so, the most surprising thing that happened in these interviews was something Fenown told me. This was just after we had watched the footage of him being beaten, tased, and knocked unconscious by a violent mob, and his partner was wondering if he would even survive. How does it feel to watch that?

21:30 Uh I you know I I doesn't um it makes me miss the job. Really? Yeah. Um why? I mean I love being a cop. I really did. And it was like I mean it's one of those professions that just like um you know you can argue what whether it's good or bad. It's probably pretty bad but it just uh you know like cannibalizes you like it just becomes your entire identity. And for 20 years like that's who I was. All my social circles were cops and you know my kids played with other cops kids and it's just like um that was like everything and it's um yeah you watch this and now and it's like it's the last time I got to be a cop. I think a lot of people would be surprised to hear you say this is almost nostalgic given how it was probably the worst day of your career in policing.

22:57 I mean like it was it incredibly violent? Yes. [snorts] Um were there moments that I was you know terrified? Sure. But there were lots of those moments in my career as a police officer and you know I went back the next day and like I didn't get to do that here and um you know was January 6 traumatic yes. Was it more traumatic than other experiences in my career? I don't know. I mean what was traumatic was everything that happened afterwards. I mean, I, you know, go to therapy every week and like my therapist is like, "Well, you know, I specialize in trauma therapy and what's unique about your situation is that the trauma for everyone else, it ends at a certain like there's a beginning to it and an end to it. And obviously you deal with the after effects, but I don't there's no end. Like I'm we're still living in the midst of my trauma. You know, I've got a president that pardoned all the people that assaulted

24:20 me, called them patriots. I 50% of the country thinks I'm a traitor to the country. I get death threats every single day. I lost my career. I lost my friends. I had my entire life turned upside down. Um, all because of me doing my job. I can't draw a straight line between this and the six, but I I've been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, anxiety adjustment disorder, and

24:56 [clears throat] uh PTSD symptoms. Um, but fundamentally [snorts] I'm still the same person. Uh, I still value the same things. I still want the same things. Um, [sighs] it's made me a little sadder because I was really hopeful um after the sixth that this is it, you know, that nobody can see what just transpired here and want to support these people anymore. That's made me sad. It's made me a little bitter about humanity, but not completely. I still have hope. I still believe that, you know, we can we can be better.

25:47 Stay there and make sure you're okay. I can't find anything obvious. Thanks. Yeah.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Trump calls Jan 6 a “day of love.” This bodycam footage shows otherwise."?

Daniel Hajes (Guest), Michael Fenon (Guest), NPR Investigative Correspondent (Host).

What is "Trump calls Jan 6 a “day of love.” This bodycam footage shows otherwise." about?

The January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol is portrayed in stark contrast to President Trump's characterization of it as a "day of love," as bodycam footage reveals the intense violence faced by police officers amidst the chaos. This investigative piece highlights the discrepancies between the violent reality of that day, including injuries to law enforcement, and the ongoing attempts by Trump…

What is mentioned in this NPR episode?

4 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Donald Trump, Daniel Hodes, Michael Fenone, Albuquerque Head. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Trump calls Jan 6 a “day of love.” This bodycam footage shows otherwise."?

The episode runs 26 min; the transcript is about 3,733 words in 60 timestamped sections.

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