- Ex-cop Michael Fanone told reporters that people need to "wake" up about what happened on Jan. 6.
- Fanone said that its hard to convince people who live outside Washington, DC to care about what happened.
Former DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who suffered a heart attack during the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, said on Friday that people need to "wake the fuck up" to the danger former President Donald Trump poses following the House select committee playing videos of what unfolded on that day.
"The most difficult part is convincing people who don't live inside of I-495 that it is a significant threat to their democracy," he told reporters during the hearing, with a reference to Washington DC's beltway, "that the threat was so real that they need to take action."
The House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection kicked off its first public hearing Thursday night. The committee is expected to hold half a dozen hearings throughout the month that will offer the American public a better understanding of the lead up to the attacks that injured over 140 law enforcement officers.
The committee also wants to use these hearings to build a case that former President Donald Trump was "at the center" of a "coordinated, multi-step" attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden, according to committee aides.
Fanone, who delivered searing testimony to the committee a year ago alongside fellow officers who were assaulted on Jan. 6, said that if the committee's investigation finds that Trump broke the law, then "he should be prosecuted." The committee does not have the legal authority to issue charges against Trump. But legal experts told Insider's C. Ryan Barber that the committee's investigation could help build a legal case against the former president.
The hearing also featured graphic descriptions of the day from US Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, who was injured that day and recalled it called it a "war zone."
The committee has conducted its investigation for over ten months. Throughout their investigation, the committee has interviewed more than 1,000 people, obtained over 140,000 documents, and issued several subpoenas to try to compel more individuals to cooperate.