2 police officers relive Jan. 6 through their own bodycam footage
On Jan. 6, 2021, 140 police officers were injured defending the U.S. Capitol from a violent mob of President Trump’s supporters. Five years later, many still live with the physical and psychological damage from that day.
NPR Investigations correspondent Tom Dreisbach sat down with two officers who defended the Capitol — Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges — to watch their police body camera footage from Jan. 6. Both were subjected to some of the most brutal violence of the day, inside a tunnel where police were outnumbered by rioters armed with flagpoles, stun guns, crutches, stolen police shields and chemical sprays.
Fanone, Hodges and other officers say that Trump’s mass pardon of Jan. 6 rioters has exacerbated the trauma of that day. Both Fanone and Hodges have received death threats and been called “crisis actors.” But the footage from their body cameras shows the reality of what they experienced.
Both videos come from NPR’s Jan. 6 archive, part of a long-term effort to preserve the historical record — a public database tracking every arrest, charge, verdict and sentence related to the attack. In Decemeber 2025, the archive expanded to include police body camera and surveillance video and other courtroom evidence, making this material available for anyone to examine firsthand. For more, go to npr.org/j6archive.
That ain’t perfume! Ancient bottle contained feces, likely used for medicine
Researchers found a tiny bottle from ancient Rome that contained fecal residue and traces of aromatics, offering evidence that poop was used medicinally more than 2,000 years ago.
Britain’s former Prince Andrew arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Urban sketchers find the sublime in the city block
Sketchers say making art together in urban environments allows them to create a record of a moment and to notice a little bit more about the city they see every day.
Epstein once attended an elite arts camp. Years later, he used it to find his victims
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell lavished money on the Interlochen Center for the Arts to gain access, documents show — even funding an on-campus lodge they stayed in. In the process, two teenagers were pulled into their orbit.
An unsung hero stepped in to help a newly widowed mom in a moment of need
Barbara Alvarez lost her husband in 2017, just before their daughter went off to college. Her unsung hero helped her find the strength to be a single mother to her child at a key moment in their lives.
How a recent shift in DNA sleuthing might help investigators in the Nancy Guthrie case
DNA science has helped solve criminal cases for decades. But increasingly, investigative genetic genealogy — which was first used for cold cases — is helping to solve active cases as well.
