Daniel Hodges, a soft‑spoken Metropolitan Police night officer who calls himself an introvert, has stepped into the national spotlight this year. Though off duty on Jan. 6, 2021, he was among more than 140 officers hurt trying to defend the U.S. Capitol. Since then he has become a vocal presence on Capitol Hill, determined to push back against what he sees as efforts to downplay or rewrite that day’s events.
Hodges told CBS News he will continue speaking out until people stop denying what happened. With Republicans occupying the White House and both chambers of Congress and some party members minimizing the riot’s seriousness, Democratic lawmakers say victims have fewer chances to tell their stories. Still, Democrats have repeatedly turned to Hodges as a witness in hearings about threats to law enforcement.
The role has been taxing. At an October Senate subcommittee hearing Hodges watched several fellow witnesses publicly back President Trump’s pardons for Jan. 6 defendants — including some who attacked officers. One supportive witness was a former homeland security secretary from the Trump administration. Because Democratic lawmakers, as the minority, could often call only a single witness to provide a counterpoint, they twice selected Hodges this fall.
Sen. Peter Welch, the top Democrat on the judiciary subcommittee that heard Hodges in October, praised his testimony for its restraint and clarity, saying Hodges set aside personal anger to simply recount what happened. Democrats argue that his testimony underscores an uncomfortable contradiction: some political figures espouse stronger law‑enforcement protections while simultaneously minimizing the attack on officers at the Capitol. Welch also said Republican members declined to question Hodges or speak with him in the hearing room after his testimony.
At a Dec. 3 House Homeland Security Committee hearing titled ‘When Badges Become Targets: How Anti‑Law Enforcement Rhetoric Fuels Violence Against Officers,’ Hodges warned that the president’s mass pardon of more than 1,500 people charged in the Capitol riot risks encouraging more attacks on police. He used his opening remarks to criticize the hearing’s framing and said it was wrong to treat the surge in threats lightly.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who called Hodges to that panel, said the goal was to push back against widespread misinformation about Jan. 6. ‘Everyone saw those events,’ Thompson said, but he added that many have been convinced otherwise by political messaging.
In his October appearance, titled ‘Politically Violent Attacks: A Threat to Our Constitutional Order,’ Hodges gave a blunt, personal account of his injuries. He described being beaten and bloodied, suffering severe blows that left him crushed and injured by his own baton, and criticized Republican lawmakers who would not acknowledge the riot. He said committee Republicans did not publicly question him about Jan. 6 or thank him after his testimony. Spokespeople for the Republican chairmen of panels where Hodges has testified did not respond to requests for comment.
Hodges previously testified to the House Jan. 6 select committee in 2021. The outcome of the 2024 election and the administration’s early pardons of riot defendants have renewed Democrats’ warnings that the siege’s history is being reshaped. The White House defended the clemency as correcting a ‘grave national injustice’ and beginning a path toward reconciliation.
Hodges has faced threats since speaking publicly. Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who has joined him at hearings, called Hodges ‘unwavering’ and said both men are focused on accountability and justice for what they consider the worst days of their lives.
Hodges acknowledged he won’t change every skeptic. Asked whether deniers might be persuaded, he paused and noted there are people who reject settled facts on other major events — from the moon landing to the Holocaust — adding that he doesn’t expect universal agreement but will keep pressing the record of what he and many other officers experienced.