Bulwark Takes – “Capitol Police Betrayed AGAIN (w. Michael Fanone)”

Date: August 29, 2025
Host: JVL (The Bulwark)
Guest: Michael Fanone (Former D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer & January 6 Respondent)

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the controversy surrounding the reversal of the Air Force’s decision to deny full military funeral honors to Ashley Babbitt, a January 6 rioter shot while breaching the Capitol. Host JVL and guest Michael Fanone discuss what this reversal signifies about the current administration, the erosion of norms around honoring service, the shifting sympathies in government and law enforcement, and the normalization of authoritarian spectacle in America post-January 6.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reversal on Ashley Babbitt’s Funeral Honors

• Background: The Trump administration’s Air Force is granting full military funeral honors to Ashley Babbitt despite her involvement in the January 6 Capitol attack, reversing the previous (Biden-era) denial.
• JVL’s Take:
  • “They have gone and due to new information that they've gotten, reconsidered their decision, and they're going to give full funeral honors to this woman who was storming the Capitol and got herself shot by trying to break into the chamber. I, like, I feel like we're living in an insane… yeah.” ([00:44])
• Fanone’s Response:
  • “It’s further eroding… the credibility of those who are in leadership positions in our military that they would allow full military honors to someone who lost their life while committing the act of sedition.” ([01:37])
  • “It should be an outrage to anyone who has served this country in uniform and made the ultimate sacrifice.” ([02:04])

2. Accountability and Moral Clarity

• JVL recognizes the tragedy of Babbitt’s death but sees the current actions as normalization and even celebration of sedition:

  • “It’s not just a… ‘we’re gonna look the other way for this nice lady.’ It’s a ‘we’re on the side of sedition.’” ([04:38])

• Fanone distinguishes between empathy for manipulated individuals and responsibility for their actions:

  • “Ashley Babbitt was an adult, and she is responsible for her actions. And her actions were not just wrong, but they were really wrong. And she should not be afforded these honors…” ([05:13])

3. Systemic Betrayal of Law Enforcement

• JVL decries the hypocrisy of Congress:
  • “At the same time that they are according her honors, we have the Republicans in Congress who are blocking just, you know, putting a plaque in the Capitol recognizing the efforts of the Capitol police on January 6…” ([03:23])
• Fanone’s Personal Perspective:
  • “I was there, and I almost died at the hands of these… brainwashed, violent MAGA, you know, whatever you want to call them.” ([04:56])
  • Details how the administration's policy shift casts him, and those who protected the Capitol, as villains:
    “I was the enemy… I am guilty in their minds of treason for doing my job that day and that those that stormed the Capitol, they're the heroes in that story.” ([06:18])

4. Law Enforcement and Military’s Shifting Culture

• Generational Divide Noted by Fanone:

  • “These guys are like 19, 20 years old… They don’t understand the moment. They don’t understand the resentment of the community.” ([08:08])
  • Contrasts “excited” young National Guard members with “older, wiser combat veterans who are like, this is disgusting.” ([08:23])

• Waning Resistance and Dangers of Authoritarian Co-option:

  • “It’s disgusting that you’re taking service members… out there doing gardening and trash pickup.” ([08:37])
  • Warns of the pendulum swinging: "How would you feel if… a Democrat came in and said, I don’t like the way that your community police officers are handling crime… so we are going to dramatically change the way that they do things and I’m going to take over the police department. I wasn’t elected… but I’m going to decide how things are done. It’s anti-American…” ([11:11])

5. Normalization of Authoritarian Symbols

• JVL on Trump-era Military Parades and Conditioning:

  • “If you’re 19 years old right now, Trump is all you’ve ever known… you just view all this stuff as like, not as an aberration, but that just is… America, you know.” ([12:04])
  • “We’re a country that puts the Dear Leader on a reviewing stand and has the military march by him for his amusement. And… that’s just a Tuesday.” ([12:40])

• Fanone’s Observations on Desensitization:

  • “The nation's willingness to allow this to become normal is really striking to me. People's willingness to just… walk by armored vehicles… as if it was, this is how it’s been all along. And that to me is a scary thing.” ([13:35])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Michael Fanone on Babbitt’s Funeral Honors:
  “It’s further eroding… the credibility of those who are in leadership positions in our military that they would allow full military honors to someone who lost their life while committing the act of sedition…” ([01:37])

• Fanone on January 6 and Moral Responsibility:
  “Ashley Babbitt was an adult, and she is responsible for her actions. And her actions were not just wrong, but they were really wrong…” ([05:13])

• JVL on Congressional Hypocrisy:
  “At the same time that they are according her honors, we have the Republicans in Congress who are blocking just… putting a plaque in the Capitol recognizing the efforts of the Capitol police on January 6…” ([03:23])

• Fanone on Law Enforcement’s Disconnect:
  “They have had an adversarial relationship with both the community and the city council and they see this takeover as ‘finally we get, we're in charge now’… without recognizing the fact that how dangerous that is and how destructive it is…” ([09:23])

• JVL on Generational Shifts and Normalization:
  “If you’re 19 years old right now, Trump is all you’ve ever known…you just view all this stuff as like… America…” ([12:04])

• Fanone on Authoritarian Symbolism:
  “…the nation's willingness to allow this to become normal is really striking to me. People's willingness to just… walk by armored vehicles… as if it was, this is how it’s been all along.” ([13:35])

Key Segment Timestamps

• Ashley Babbitt Funeral Honors Decision – Background/Reaction: [00:10-02:10]
• On the Tragedy of Babbitt’s Death, Political Sides Shifting: [02:59-04:38]
• Fanone on Personal and National Betrayal Post-Jan 6: [04:54-06:49]
• Perspectives within Law Enforcement & Military Communities: [08:01-11:11]
• Normalization of Authoritarian Imagery – Military Parades: [12:00-13:10]
• Desensitization & Societal Shift: [13:10-14:04]

Tone and Language

• Candid, critical, direct—JVL and Fanone speak frankly about their personal experiences, incredulity, and dismay at recent policy and cultural shifts, using plain language and no euphemisms.
• The underlying tone is one of alarm and frustration, both at the events discussed and at the general public’s apparent acclimatization to a new post-democratic normal.

This episode offers a sobering, insider’s perspective on how high-profile policy decisions and symbolic acts reflect (and reinforce) dangerous shifts in American governance, accountability, and civil-military norms.