A police officer in the Metropolitan Police Department was knocked out by a spray of bear spray on January 6 as a mob of Trump supporters broke into the Capitol.
In October, the police officer spoke to Insider about his experience. The Insider gave them anonymity to speak candidly about the details of the insurrection, while the MPD kept its officers from talking publicly about the January 6 attack.
The interview has been shortened for clarity.
What is the first thing you remember?
The police officer threw all of the gear into the vans. There was a standard presentation. This is what we are going to get. This is what we expect.
Most of the day was people walking by and saying hello. "We're not like Antifa." I'm like, yeah. You would just go home if you really supported us.
People started marching towards the Capitol after Trump's speech ended. We didn't think of it. We didn't have a big picture.
Things come over the radio. There was an angry crowd at the Capitol and people were yelling. We were ordered to collect ourselves in a nearby location, pick up our gear and head over there.
Does that mean big guns, armor, batons, and all that?
Metropolitan Police officer: No. We put on helmets and gear. Likes extra padding. We were on our way to the Capitol.
There were a lot of people in front of the place. People were yelling at us. Cowards! "Rators!" "We're here for you," people were saying. We're here to support you. You're not supporting us! The shoving started when someone got aggressive.
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
Agence France-Presse via
I felt the line collapsing.
People are yelling. The things that had been used as barriers were being tried to grab. People were getting sprayed with pepper spray. It was starting to turn into real-life violence.
We try to reason with them. It just kind of goes out the window at this point. There's no talking to these people. They were there to make themselves known. The average age was between 28 and 50.
I had to come off the line several times. I got misted with pepper spray. There were a bunch of Capitol Police officers who were not in riot gear who were running back and forth from inside the building carrying bottles of water. We were doinguse our eyes. You would fall out, you would go back, and you would go back again. Just trying to keep going.
I realized that I had a gas mask on when I pulled back. I should put this on. That would be a great idea. When you have a second to think, that's what happens.
I see smoke as I put it on. It flies by me a second later. You get that sweet metallic taste of tear gas in your throat and you know it's done.
It looked like you were looking at a battlefield.
We are in front of the little tunnel where the president is going to give his speech. I'm looking out at the crowd and I'm like, "Oh, shit." That's a lot of anger. You could feel it, but it didn't register directly. We were surrounded. There would be no way to retreat from this.
The order was given for us to go back inside. I was one of the last 10 to go back inside. We need to take a moment.
We start hearing pounding. I'm not sure if this is the Capitol building. They have bulletproof glass or shatterproof glass. Then I hear cracking sounds.
One of the lieutenants tried to give us a pep talk. We're not going to lose the US Capitol today. They can't be heard above the craziness. Someone yelled, "I need a riot shield at the front."
I grabbed one of the Capitol Police riot shields lined up along the edge of the hallway that people must have just put down or abandoned. We went forward.
The window at the US Capitol building was broken during the siege by Donald Trump's supporters.
The photo was taken by Dmitry KirsanovTASS.
There is shattered glass.
I hear the glass shatter and I see someone trying to get in. More people come in. We are sitting next to each other. Four guys with shields are trying to hold back people. I yelled, "Get the fuck out of here!"
They're hitting the officers. I was pushed in between the door frame and the metal detector. Guys wearing tactical gear start hitting people with their batons and other things when they mix in or stand on top of one another. There were people wearing body armor and balaclavas. There were people wearing t-shirts. People are wearing clothes.
Scott MacFarlane is a reporter for MacFarlane News.
People in the crowd were trying to be decent. They yelled and got their point across. They weren't trying to hurt anyone. They were on federal property at the same time. It makes them less guilty of being violent.
There were many makeshift weapons. A lot of it was made of plastic. There are some flagpoles. There was a homemade bear spray. There was bear spray. Some of the stuff was taken from us. They were taking away our shields. One of our leaders yelled to stop using pepper spray because they were going to get the rest of us messed up.
People asked if we needed to take a break. Everyone was like, 'We're not taking a break.' We're not giving up.
Insider: Were you running on a high?
Metropolitan Police officer: Yes. Within 10 minutes, I was gassed out. The people in front of you are being pushed from behind. You're done after ten minutes. It doesn't register anymore. You're tired. Everyone else is tired as well.
I took a break for a while. "Hey, I know you guys are tired, but we need you back on the line," the lieutenant said. It's getting worse.
Police use tear gas around the Capitol building when pro- Trump supporters riot.
The photo was taken by Lev Radin/Pacific Press.
You couldn't breathe.
There were a lot of fresh bodies. We did not. We would remove them. Or spray them. They would pull off. We had more protesters, rioters, insurrectionists in front of us.
I can see my squad sergeant's face at one point. It was red. I told one of the officers that he needed to get off the line because he was almost sleepy. He was getting burned out.
An officer was struggling with a lot of pain. We made a V so that the people in the center could trade out and the people in the other part of the center could take his spot. Someone threw a grenade. I was trying to put it out. The smoke grenade burned away when I moved the trash and debris around.
You couldn't move your arms around because it was so packed. You couldn't breathe.
Scott MacFarlane is a reporter for MacFarlane News.
Some of the protesters yelled, "Hey, I can't breathe" All I'm thinking is, "Why are you here?" A lot of people said in the news that we could have been more violent. The Black Lives Matter protests did not hit a single person. I used more force that day than I had in the previous year.
The crowd would have become hostile if we had gone lethal. There were a lot of people. We were not an obstacle to their path.
I yelled, "Where the hell's the National Guard?" at the end of the tunnel. We're all tired, but we're still holding.
I don't know how gas masks work, but ours only has one air filter on the left side. Someone pushed me. The mask filter got pushed up against my chin. It's like putting your head in a container and trying to breathe. There's no air in there. It is a panic moment. I ripped my mask off after I got my hand out from between me and another person.
I see a stream of white liquid, almost like a Super Soaker, come out of the dark and hit me right in the face. I knew I was done. It was just pain. It was bear spray.
I yelled to the guys around me, "I can't see, I can't see," when I had to close my eyes. I wasn't in commission. This was ablaze. It's like having a burn on your face and then being stuck in an oven. I couldn't see anything.
Capitol Police officers received medical attention after being attacked by a pro- Trump mob.
The photo was taken by Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc.
Battered police officers are looking off into space.
Someone took me to the Crypt. We were all sitting down. After a football game. All the players are sitting in the locker room, staring off into space.
I remember walking around. I went to the Senate to take pictures. I took pictures of the offices and I could see the damage. I had to keep moving because I would start sweating. I have to keep the air flowing over my face because the OC spray is activated when I sweat. It just keeps burning.
I was told that they had cleared out the west side. I went to see what I could see. I could see police from Virginia, Maryland, and other states moving through the Capitol. I said thank you. Thank you for coming. Thanks for backing us up.
The National Guard was visible to me. I saw the aftermath when I went out. There is debris everywhere. There was some fluid on the ground. I saw someone's pants. A large Buck knife was on the belt loop.
There's trash everywhere. Baseball bats were mixed between it. Billy clubs. There are backpacks full of first aid kits. A bunch of tactical gear from Amazon. The guys got their gear off of Amazon.
The janitors were already cleaning up. Capitol Hill maintenance workers are already measuring the broken doors and the glass. They were kicked into high gear. The grounds had been cleared.
We formed a line and started talking to our supervisors. If we were injured, they had us answer. If we had used force. I'm like, "Maybe I whacked a couple of people with my baton." A guy said he punched someone. We had to report it so that it could be looked into later.
Police officers are looking at the mess left after the attack on the Capitol.
The photo was acquired by Insider.
There were health effects from January chemicals.
Did you get punched?
The Metropolitan Police officer did not. Lots of guys got hit with things. Even if we weren't injured, we were wounded.
I call it the OC hangover. After being exposed to OC and CS gas, your body is drained and sore. It's not really a gas when it comes to CS gas. It's like a powder that is sprayed. I still get reactivation from the OC whenever I have to put on our riot gear. Guys will sneeze in the locker room because they were putting on their gear and there was still some residual powder on it.
As we were leaving the Capitol, anyone who was injured got into another van and went to the hospital.
My sergeant had a concussion. Another officer fucked up his knee and didn't come back until a month or two ago. A sergeant's finger got ripped off, like the fingernail on his finger. He had to go to the hospital after they put duct tape on it.
We drove our vans to the convention center after that. The two parts of the convention center are linked by an overpass. The fire department hosed down our gear. I'm still getting burned from it.
We didn't leave until late. They didn't know if they still needed us. I think we were on for 18 hours.
Did you ever get the chance to call your family?
I sent my mom a text message when I stepped away. But safe. And she was like "Huh?"
I only had a few minutes to call one person. I called my wife. I told her it was rough. They're trying to take over the Capitol. I'm okay. Can you let my mom know that I'm okay?
I've never been in a situation like that.
The story was first published in October of 2016 as part of Insider's oral history on the January 6 Capitol attack with accounts from 34 people. Here are other related stories.
