To mark the third anniversary of the attacks on the Capitol, the hosts of the “Politics Is Everything” podcast talked with D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges, who was beaten by rioters that day.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Hodges responded with Civil Defense Unit 42 as Capitol Police units were overrun. Hodges fought those who assaulted the Capitol on the west lawn, the west terrace, and in the tunnel leading out to the inaugural platform, sustaining many injuries in the process. While fighting in the tunnel, he was crushed by rioters and beaten. He returned to full duty within a month and continues to serve as an officer. Hodges also has testified in court cases about Jan. 6 and in a case in the Colorado Supreme Court, which recently ruled that Donald Trump is disqualified from the state's 2024 ballot under the Constitution's 14th Amendment. (Trump formally asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse that decision on Jan. 3.)
Along with others who defended democracy on Jan. 6, Hodges received a congressional medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal and the Center for Politics’ 2023 Defenders of Democracy award.
Hodges joined the police department in 2014. He has received multiple awards for his services with MPD, including a commendation medal for responding to a man brandishing a gun and threatening MPD officers and talking him into disarming and surrendering. Civil Disturbance Unit 42 is a "rapid response" platoon that is equipped with non-standard defensive gear and is activated for policing a variety of First Amendment assemblies, protests and riots.
