An officer who had been on duty since 7 a.m. on Jan. 6 said he was concerned for his life several times the day of the Capitol riot in Washington, D.C., an ABC affiliate reported.
Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges, 32, was attacked by rioters trying to pull the gas mask from his face who stole his baton and hit him with it and crushed by a door while responding to the riot at the Capitol building, WJLA reported. Hodges said the crowd pinned him in a double door inside the Capitol, and video shows him with a bloodied mouth calling for help.
“That was one of the three times that day where I thought: Well, this might be it,” Hodges said, WJLA reported. “This might be the end for me.”
WATCH:
Daniel Hodges, the DC police officer who was crushed in a doorway at the Capitol speaks out saying a man ripped away his baton, and was “practically foaming at the mouth… true believers in the worst way.” https://t.co/WWGvhbSnt5 pic.twitter.com/jUTkvTDsxT
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) January 15, 2021
Hodges said the rioter who took his baton and hit him with it was “practically foaming at the mouth,” video shows. He added that his arms were pinned in the doors so he could not defend himself.
“We were battling, you know, tooth and nail for our lives,” Hodges said. “We held the line there in that doorway, and I guess I got pinned through the small back-and-forth we had fighting for, you know, every inch. And I had my arms pinned at that point, I wasn’t able to defend myself.”
Hodges added that when the rioter grabbed the gas mask on his face and attempted to remove it another rioter tried to hurt his eye, according to WJLA. (RELATED: ‘Foaming At The Mouth’ — Police Officers Detail Violent Mob’s Attack On Capitol)
“At that point, I was also, you know, sucking in OC and CS gas, so I was pretty disabled at that point,” Hodges said, WJLA reported. “I thought, you know, this might be it. I might die and there’s nothing I can do to defend myself at this point. So I just started screaming at the top of my lungs for them to give me a way out, get me a line of retreat. Thankfully someone was able to do that and I was able to extricate myself.”
Hodges said he had a headache for a week after the incident that may have been caused by a concussion sustained during his first time at the Capitol, CNN’s Anderson Cooper said.
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