Officers who fought off the Jan. 6 mob praise Harris for reclaiming site of Trump's speech

Source: NBC News

Oct. 30, 2024, 2:08 PM EDT


WASHINGTON — As Kamala Harris spoke at the Ellipse near the White House Tuesday night, the same spot where Donald Trump urged his supporters to "fight like hell" on Jan. 6, 2021, some of the very officers who fought off the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol that day were watching.

Officer Daniel Hodges, of Washington's Metropolitan Police Department, who was on duty both for Trump’s Jan. 6 event and Harris’ rally, said Tuesday was a very different experience.

“I’m glad Harris recognizes the opportunity to physically evoke the events of Jan 6th in order to communicate the stakes of this election and contrast that day with the message of her campaign,” Hodges told NBC News before his shift began. “Policing the event certainly brings back memories of what happened the last time I worked an event on the ellipse, but it’s important to move forward.”

Hodges, a military veteran, was crushed inside the lower west tunnel on Jan. 6. He's since become an outspoken opponent of Trump's, testifying before the Jan. 6 committee and campaigning for Harris. He said he was glad that Harris chose to host a rally at the same spot where Trump told his supporters to march to the Capitol. “The space of the Mall and the Capitol is too powerful to the American psyche to cede to the horrors Trump and his ilk wrought in 2021,” he continued.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/officers-fought-jan-6-mob-praise-harris-reclaiming-site-trumps-speech-rcna178001