"Back the blue" and "Blue lives matter" are common sentiments from the right when railing against nationwide opposition to racist police brutality, but that devotion doesn't extend to officers refuting the GOP's rampant disinformation regarding the deadly failed insurrection against the Capitol on January 6.
This Tuesday, the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riots heard harrowing testimony from Capitol and D.C. Metro police officers, who detailed their experience defending the Capitol against the mob of pro-Trump extremists.
Ahead of the testimony, the officers faced vitriol from right-wing media personalities like Fox News host Tucker Carlson, as well as absurd claims by some Republican lawmakers that the insurrection resembled nothing more than a "normal tourist visit."
As he testified to the horrors he faced that day, this right-wing outrage trickled down to everyday Republicans, one of whom left an extremely disturbing voicemail for Officer Michael Fanone as he was testifying about the brain injuries and PTSD inflicted upon him that day.
Listen below, but be warned, the voicemail contains extremely graphic language.
Listen to the voicemail that a Trump supporter left for Officer Fanone!\n\nTrump has cultivated a network of goons and terrorists who intimidate and attack people simply for doing their patriotic duties.\n\n"This is what happens to people that tell the truth in Trump's America."pic.twitter.com/JNtCBMh92I— awwHALEnaww (@awwHALEnaww) 1627442375
The voicemail said:
"This is for Michael Fanone, Metropolitan Police Officer. You're on trial right now, lying and not, you want an Emmy, an Oscar, what're you trying to go for here? You're so full of s**t, you little f***ot f***er. You're a little p***y, man. I could slap you up the side head with a backhand, knock you out, you little f***ot. You're a punk f***ot, you're a lying f***k."
The screed wasn't over.
"How about all the scummy Black f***ing scum for two years destroying our cities and burning them and stealing all that s**t out of the stores and everything? How about that, assaulting cops and killing people? How about that, you f***er? That was s***t on the goddamn Capitol, I wish they would've killed all you scumbags, cause you people are scum."
That's when the caller began repeating former President Donald Trump's lies, which incited the riots in the first place.
"They stole the election from Trump and you know that, you scumbag. Too bad they didn't beat the s**t out of you more. You're a piece of s**t. You're a little f*g, you f***ing scumbag."
CNN host Don Lemon, who played the voicemail uncensored in an interview with Fanone, was exasperated by the caller.
Fanone said of the message:
"This is what happens to people who tell the truth in Trump's America."
Others shared the disgust.
Couldn\u2019t finish listening\u2026I feel absolutely nauseous & embarrassed to be an American right now\u2026.\n#FanoneIsAnAmericanHEROhttps://twitter.com/therecount/status/1420364720142438403\u00a0\u2026— SISU00 (@SISU00) 1627484070
Well, one thing you can say about this voicemail is it gets worse and worse as it reaches its crescendo.https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1420364720142438403\u00a0\u2026— Teri Carter (@Teri Carter) 1627480579
I\u2019m furious and sad about this. What happened to people? What happened to our decency? Our compassion? Even if, for some misguided reason you think the officer did something wrong, why do this?!?https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1420364720142438403\u00a0\u2026— Leslie Burns (@Leslie Burns) 1627476980
These people are bonkers\u2026 and I guarantee the guy who left this VM sits in somebodies church every Sunday claiming to be a Christian https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1420364720142438403\u00a0\u2026— Montrae Strickland (@Montrae Strickland) 1627476689
Deplorable was too kind.https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1420364720142438403\u00a0\u2026— Terese Vaniman (@Terese Vaniman) 1627481562
@GOPLeader this is why you\u2019re party is disgraceful. The more you whitewash what happened, these people are going to crawl out of the rock they\u2019ve been hiding under and do this all over again,or even worse.Start telling the truth, Qevin.https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1420364720142438403\u00a0\u2026— \ud83c\udf3bolivia\ud83c\udf3b (@\ud83c\udf3bolivia\ud83c\udf3b) 1627483224
The hypocrisy of the "Blue Lives Matter" crowd was laid bare.
GOP 2021. Wasn't their motto 'Back the Blue' and made up a flag and everything for it? Good times.https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1420364720142438403\u00a0\u2026— Shane Stafford (@Shane Stafford) 1627477811
I\u2019m beginning to think the BlueLivesMatter crowd doesn\u2019t care about cops as much as they claim\u2026https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1420364720142438403\u00a0\u2026— \ud83c\udf62Pool Party Papi\ud83c\udf62 (@\ud83c\udf62Pool Party Papi\ud83c\udf62) 1627477234
Listen to this Trump supporter backing the blue. This is who they are.https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1420364720142438403\u00a0\u2026— Robbie Sherwood (@Robbie Sherwood) 1627481165
The identity of the caller remains unknown.
@PreetBharara/X
@RepBrendanBoyle/X
@twesq/Bluesky
@christopherharris/Bluesky
@evangelinewarren/X
@FrankC164/X
AMC