Jan. 6 police hero becomes go-to witness for Democrats in Congress to counter Trump

Daniel Hodges considers himself an introvert: he is soft-spoken and says he is averse to the spotlight. By night, he is a local police officer in Washington, DC. But in his off hours this year, Hodges has become a unique and very public advocate on Capitol Hill.

He told CBS News he was trying to serve as a firewall to prevent the whitewashing of the story of the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the U.S. Capitol.

“The only thing that will stop me is if people stop lying about January 6th and just recognize what that day was and what really happened,” Hodges said.

He was among more than 140 police officers injured while trying to stop the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

With Republicans now controlling the White House and Congress and some in the party downplaying the severity of the Capitol siege, platforms for victims of the attack to speak out about its impact on their lives are limited.

Hodges has become a key witness for Democrats during congressional hearings on police safety.

The mission generates stress and conflict for Hodges. At a Senate subcommittee hearing in October, Hodges saw three of his fellow witnesses raise their hands when asked whether they supported President Trump’s pardons for the Jan. 6 attackers, including those who beat Hodges. One of the witnesses who raised his hand was a former secretary of Homeland Security during President Trump’s first administration.

As a minority in the House and Senate, Democrats are allowed to call one witness during most hearings, to serve as a “minority party” witness who provides a counterpoint to the witnesses called by the majority.

Twice this fall, Democrats called on Hodges.

“The power of Dan Hodges’ story comes from the self-control he displays,” said Sen. Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat who is the ranking Democrat on a Senate Judiciary subcommittee that called Hodges to testify in October. Welch said Hodges “erased any legitimate anger he may have had about Jan. 6, to simply tell us what happened during the hearing.”

Democrats argue that Hodges’ testimony and presence at congressional hearings underscore the hypocrisy of Trump supporters making public statements in favor of tougher laws or policies to protect police, while downplaying attacks on law enforcement officers on January 6.

Welch noted that Republicans refused to ask Hodges questions or speak to him in the courtroom after the testimony.

“You have to do an immense amount of intellectual and emotional jujitsu to pretend you didn’t hear what Hodges said or to acknowledge the reality of what he experienced,” Welch said.

At a Dec. 3 hearing convened by the House Homeland Security Committee titled “When Badges Become Targets: How Anti-Law Enforcement Rhetoric Fuels Violence Against Officers,” Hodges said Mr. Trump’s mass pardon of more than 1,500 Capitol riot defendants emboldens and encourages more violence against police.

“The press release announcing this hearing made it seem like some participants were going to spend a few hours scratching their heads and pretending not to understand why threats against law enforcement have increased so sharply this year, and I cannot stand such farce,” Hodges said in his opening remarks.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who called Hodges as a witness at the hearing, said he did so to combat “pervasive misinformation.”

Thompson told CBS News: “Everyone saw January 6 with their own eyes. But Trump convinced a large percentage of the population that these were not insurrectionists.”

At a Senate hearing in October titled “Politically Violent Attacks: A Threat to Our Constitutional Order,” Hodges was the only witness called by Democrats.

“I am intimately familiar with political violence, because when I fought to defend the United States Capitol and many of your lives, I was beaten, bloodied and crushed, my eye gouged out and my skull smashed with my own baton,” Hodges testified.

He criticized Republicans on the panel for failing to acknowledge the Capitol riot, telling them, “My colleagues were attacked by a mob.”

Hodges said Republican panel members did not ask him questions during the committees’ public hearings, nor did they thank him after the proceedings. Spokespeople for the Republican chairs on the panels on which Hodges testified this year did not respond to CBS News’ requests for comment on Hodges’ testimony.

At a House hearing this month in which Hodges appeared as a witness, the committee’s Republican chairman opened proceedings with broader statements about the risk of “inflammatory rhetoric” endangering the lives of law enforcement and endangering homeland security, including recent rhetoric criticizing federal immigration agents.

Hodges spoke to CBS News as a private citizen and not as a representative of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department.

He had previously testified before a national audience, in 2021, during a public hearing of the House select committee on January 6, which was investigating the causes and impact of the riot.

Mr. Trump’s 2024 victory and his first-day pardon of riot defendants have sparked criticism of the administration that it is ignoring — or rewriting — the history of the siege.

In granting clemency to Capitol riot defendants, the White House said the president’s decision “ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated against the American people over the past four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.”

Hodges acknowledges that he has also received threats and threats amid his public statements.

Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, who attended some congressional hearings in support of Hodges, told CBS News, “Danny has been steadfast and has overcome every obstacle he has faced while continuing to serve.”

Dunn, who also testified and appeared at the House Select Committee hearings on January 6, 2021-2022, said, “Danny’s mission and mine have been the same. We seek accountability and justice against those responsible for the worst days of our lives.

Hodges told CBS News it would be impossible to convince all Americans of the truth about the impact of January 6 on police victims. Asked if he was optimistic that siege violence deniers would change their minds, Hodges paused before responding.

“There are still people who think the moon landing was fake and the Holocaust wasn’t real,” he said. “So you won’t get 100%.”