Former Washington, DC Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone gained massive notoriety as post-January 6 events unfolded. For his 30-minute struggle at the Capitol Building, he got a book deal, several interviews in mainstream media, and a gig as a CNN contributor. What most people don't know about him is that he illegally stopped-and-frisked a black attorney, causing the city to pay out $175,000 to the victim.
Fanone has repeatedly characterized law enforcement as well as former President Donald Trump and his supporters as "racist," including in his 256-page book on his experience being attacked while attempting to push protestors out of the Capitol.
"There's a long history of racism in this country and unfortunately law enforcement has played a significant part in that," Fanone wrote in "Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America’s Soul." "During my two decades on the force, I encountered anti-Black, anti-Muslim, anti-Asian, and anti-gay officers. I met MPD officers and supervisors who were white supremacists, or who were at least sympathetic to white supremacists and shared Trump's views on race."
Fanone may have been right that some of Trump's voters espoused racist views, but not in the way that he claimed. The Washington Post reported that the former cop actually voted for Donald Trump in 2016. Seven years prior to this, he actually perpetrated a racist encounter against a black man.
It was the afternoon of October 8, 2009, when Fanone and his partner, Officer Samuel Modin, confronted Micheal Maddox, a black attorney for Howard University.
Maddox, a US Air Force veteran, was minding his own business standing on the corner of 5th and K Streets when the two officers confronted him, reported American Greatness.
"Maddox sensed the presence of two individuals assuming aggressive positions when he was suddenly and without warning cornered and seized by—Modin while Defendant Officer Michael Fanone blocked Maddox’s only other means of escape," Maddox's lawyers wrote in a 2010 complaint. Modin shoved Maddox against a garbage dumpster and forced his arms over his head so Fanone could interrogate him.
"Do you have any weapons or drugs on you, sir?" Fanone asked.
Modin frisked the attorney while Fanone stood in an "aggressive posture," according to Maddox's lawyers. Modin then delivered three blows in "testicle-striking attempts" in an effort to find something illegal in Maddox's pockets. He didn't discover anything besides his Blackberry and money clip.
Neither officer identified himself or gave a real reason for the search.
When Maddox asked Fanone what the issue was, Fanone reportedly responded that it was a "high crime area."
As Fanone and Modin started to leave after finding nothing, Maddox took out his cell phone to record their faces so he could file a report. That's when Fanone became even more aggressive.
"Maddox's videotape commences with Defendant Fanone halting his progress to the patrol car, covering his face in an ill-fated, last-ditch effort to continue to mask his identity from Maddox and reversing his direction of travel to advance on Maddox's position standing on a public sidewalk holding his cell phone," said the complaint. Fanone walked back up to Maddox, asking if there "was something he could help with" and got "face-to-face" with him.
"Put the camera away!" the Jan. 6 "hero" demanded.
Afraid of getting assaulted, Maddox backed away.
"Put another way, at that moment on his cellphone video, Maddox alleges that he was assaulted by Defendant Officer Fanone," his attorneys said.
Maddox reportedly asked Fanone twice why he had to stop recording, to which he did not get an answer. When Maddox asked on what basis the officers shoved, searched, and threatened him, Modin replied that they were simply conducting a "citizen's contact."
According to his representation, Maddox's only crime was "standing while black."
During his deposition in 2013, Fanone denied frisking Maddox. He also claimed that he didn't remember telling Maddox to put his camera away – until he watched the cell phone video showing the confrontation.
Maddox sought $3 million in damages for Fanone and Modin using "their personal prejudices, biases, stereotypes, generalizations, and profiles" to harass him.
The suit was later settled in 2014, with the city handing out $175,000 to Maddox.
Despite the clear and evident abuse of power displayed by the former officer, he is still embraced by left-wing ideologues. MSNBC contributor Joy-Ann Reid, who regularly accuses people of being racist, proudly promoted his book with the convenient details left out.
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