Michael Fanone—who worked for the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia for 20 years until he sustained serious and life-threatening injuries when he was brutally attacked by former Republican President Donald Trump's supporters during the January 6 insurrection—did not hold back when asked for his opinion on Kari Lake.
Speaking on MSNBC, Fanone referred to Lake, who is the Republican nominee in the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election, as a “piece of sh*t" while discussing a new anti-Lake ad that features the mother of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died of a stroke after he was assaulted while responding to the attack on the United States Capitol.
The ad shows Gladys Sicknick saying her son died "because of people like Kari Lake." Fanone praised the ad as a "powerful" statement before criticizing Lake for endorsing Trump's "Big Lie" that the 2020 general election was stolen.
You can hear what Fanone said in the video below.
Fanone said:
“I’ve gotten to know Mrs. Sicknick pretty well, and I thought that was a powerful ad."
“I think she’s out there trying to do what we’re all trying to do here, which is bring accountability for Jan. 6."
"And I also support the fact that Kari Lake is a piece of sh*t. So I’m glad she did that ad.”
Lake has been endorsed by former President Trump, whose falsehoods about the integrity of the 2020 general election she has continued to parrot. She has called for imprisoning Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs on baseless and unspecified allegations of criminality related to the 2020 election.
Earlier this year, Lake described herself as a "Trump candidate," aligning herself with him and his lies to further her own candidacy. She has long backed the insurrectionists who attacked the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 on the false premise the election had been stolen.
Over the summer, she was confronted by MSNBC reporter Vaughn Hillyard over her baseless claim she had detected "some stealing" ahead of this year's midterm elections.
Lake said “we’re already detecting some stealing going on” and she’s “not gonna let them steal an election." Her unsupported claims received pushback from Hillyard, who noted despite her claims she has not "even laid out any fraud or irregularities."
She went on to accuse Hillyard of working for "MSDNC" after saying he is the "last person on the planet Earth I would tell about what we discovered."
A visibly annoyed Hillyard challenged her further, noting despite her claim she had discovered a crime, she had no interest in "reporting it to the authorities."
Given these facts, it came as no surprise that many concurred with Fanone's assessment.
Fanone's name has become synonymous with the many police officers who suffered horrific and unprecedented trauma as they attempted to restore order and protect the seat of the nation's government on January 6.
In June, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson denied a request from the legal team for insurrectionist Thomas Sibick that she loosen restrictions she put in place after she released him from a Washington, D.C. prison last October. Sibick had earlier tried and failed to be relieved from a 24-hour lockdown at his parents' home so he can use dating apps.
Sibick faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding, the most serious of the charges against him. Federal authorities have also charged him with robbery, civil disorder, assaulting police and committing an act of physical violence on Capitol grounds.
His face became known nationwide for his involvement in the attack on Fanone, who suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was beaten with a flagpole.
Sibick robbed Fanone of his badge and radio while others tased Fanone and threatened to beat him with his own gun. Fanone's badge and radio were recovered from the spot where Sibick buried them after returning to Buffalo, New York from D.C.
Fanone, who currently works as an on-air contributor and law enforcement analyst for CNN, has described the attack as "the most brutal, savage, hand-to-hand combat of my entire life," adding he "experienced a group of individuals that were trying to kill me to accomplish their goal."
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