'I guess this is why people don't like American tourists': DC cop tears into Republicans who called rioters 'visitors', says 'white supremacists tried to recruit me' and feared he would be 'lynched'
DC Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges elicited a laugh on Tuesday from an otherwise solemn hearing room when he was asked by Rep. Jamie Raskin about his feelings on Republican lawmakers referring to the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol as 'tourists.'
'Well, if that's what American tourists are like, I can see why foreign countries don't like American tourists,' the police officer deadpanned, earning a chuckle from the Maryland Democrat.
Hodges continued on to say he understood why 'someone would take issue with the title of 'terrorist,' but recited the definition of domestic terrorism under US law to defend his claim.
He referred to the rioters as 'terrorists' multiples times during the hearing in which he and three other officers recounted their harrowing experiences defending the Capitol and the lawmakers within.
'It was clear the terrorists perceive themselves to be Christians. I saw the Christian flag directly to my front. Another read Jesus as my Savior, Trump is my president, another Jesus is King,' he recalled.
A brief moment of levity pierced an otherwise solemn hearing when Officer Daniel Hodges said he could 'see why foreign countries don't like American tourists' in response to a question from Rep. Jamie Raskin about some lawmakers referring to the MAGA rioters that way
At one point he seemed to call out Republican obstruction in a plea to the lawmakers present.
'I need you guys to address if anyone in power had a role in this, if anyone in power coordinated or aided and abetted or tried to downplay, tried to prevent the investigation of this terrorist attack. Because we can't do it,' Hodges urged.
The officer described the crowd as 'overwhelmingly white males' with white nationalist beliefs.
'They didn't say anything especially xenophobic to me but to my black colleagues and anyone who is not white,' he told lawmakers. 'Many organizations with ties to white supremacy had a presence there - 3 Percenters, Oath Keepers, that kind of thing.'
'People who associate with Donald Trump are - I find - more likely to subscribe to that kind of belief system.'
Hodges said white supremacists he claims were present at the MAGA riot tried to 'recruit' him, with one man asking 'Are you my brother?'
The four officers present gave graphic, and at times emotional, testimony of their experience defending the Capitol from violent Trump supporters
Hodges said he did not experience xenophobia from the rioters, but that his 'black colleagues and anyone who was not white' did
By his account some of those people even tried to 'recruit' him, adding that 'one of them came up to me and said 'Are you my brother?''
A graphic video released days after the January 6th riot showed Hodges bleeding from the mouth while crying out for help as a violent mob crushes him against a door and beats him with his own equipment.
He began his chilling account of the viral video by telling lawmakers it was his 'turn in the meat grinder.'
'I inserted myself so the frame was at my back in order to give myself something to brace against and provide additional strength when pushing forward. Unfortunately soon after I secured this position the momentum shifted and we lost the ground that got me there,' he said.
He described being helplessly pinned with his arms at his sides while a rioter bashed him with a stolen police shield.
In a video released shortly after the MAGA riot, Officer Hodges can be seen bleeding from the mouth and crying for help while being crushed against a door by violent Trump supporters
Hodges reacts to watching the chilling video of himself being crushed by people he repeatedly called 'terrorists'
Then, he said, a man grabbed the front of his gas mask and used it to beat his head against the door, before pulling it off his face altogether.
'I remember him foaming at the mouth,' Hodges said. 'He never uttered any words but instead opted for guttural screams.'
Shortly before he was saved Hodges gave lawmakers a chilling account of what he thought could be his final moments.
'At this point I knew I couldn't sustain much more damage and be upright. At best I would collapse and be a liability to my colleagues, at worst be dragged out into the crowd and lynched,' he said.
He also noted that some of the rioters carried the blue flag that symbolizes support for the police.
'To my perpetual confusion, I saw the thin blue line flag, symbol of support for law enforcement, more than once, being carried by the terrorists as they ignored our commands and continued to assault us,' he said.
Hodges said and his fellow officers were outnumbered '50-something to one.'
He told Rep. Pete Aguilar that he and fellow officers would normally attempt to scan the crowd for anyone with weapons, but 'these people, they know how to conceal their weapons.'
'There were over 9,000 of the terrorists out there with an unknown number of firearms and a couple hundred of us, maybe,' Hodges said. 'If that turned into a firefight we would've lost - and this was a fight we couldn't afford to lose.'