Did Ryan Nichols Help Officer Fanone Make it Back to the Tunnel?

DID RYAN NICHOLS HELP SAVE OFFICER FANONE?
Ryan Nichols first spoke of helping Fanone during a June 4, 2021 interview with the FBI. Officer Fanone testified in front of The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol on July 27, 2021. Therefore, statements made by Nichols at his June 4th meeting that are later echoed by Fanone during his July 27th testimony should serve as evidence corroborating Mr. Nichols’ claims— because June 4th precedes July 27th by 54 days.Show more

During his June 4th meeting with the FBI, Mr. Nichols recalled that he “observed a uniformed officer being drug outside of the U.S. Capitol on the stairs. He was approximately 5-10 feet away from the officer while he was curled up on the stairs. Nichols stated that he overheard someone say ‘take his gun and kill him.’ Nichols along with others attempted to assist the officer and curtail the violent crowd.”

An excerpt of Officer Fanone’s July 27th testimony reads as follows: “I was grabbed, beaten, tased… I was at risk of being stripped of, and killed with, my own firearm as I heard chants of ‘Kill him with his own gun!” (See Ex. 3 at p.2)

Fanone’s testimony clearly corroborate representations of fact made by Mr. Nichols, which suggests that Nichols’ statements have a high degree of veracity. Furthermore, Mr. Nichols bona fides as a professional search and rescue specialist, time as a uniformed service member, honorable discharge, and the entire history of his life strongly suggests that his claim of coming to Fanone’s aid is highly reliable, because rescuing people from danger is literally what Ryan Nichols is trained to do.

WHO IS RYAN NICHOLS?
Ryan Nichols is a former United States Marine who received the Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Medal during his four years of honorable service to this country. He has no criminal history, and is not a part of any hate group or organization espousing violence. He has no history of failing to appear in court. He is a father to two young boys. He has been married for eight years. He owns a small business. He employs many people, including ex-convicts and recovering drug addicts. He owns a 501(c)(3) called “Rescue The Universe” that specializes in searching and rescuing people from areas affected by natural disasters. He was nationally recognized for his work with Rescue the Universe and even honored by Ellen DeGeneres on her show.

AT THE BAIL HEARING:
The Government alleged in its reply brief that Ryan Nichols lied about attempting to help Officer Fanone. The presumption of innocence or truthfulness was not applied. A lifetime of good conduct and good deeds was overlooked as irrelevant and unimportant. All of this was overcome simply because the Government said that he was untrustworthy.

YOU BE THE JUDGE:
Nothing is crystal clear about this video. However, I want you to take into account everything you now know about Ryan Nichols and view in through that lens, because that is how the presumption of innocence works.

Look for Ryan in the crowd with co-defendant Alex Harkrider. Ryan has a camouflage bonnie hat on and yellow gloves. He is at the bottom of the steps leading to the Tunnel when he hears a big commotion and looks up top at the tunnel entrance. He sees a man in riot gear get dragged out of the tunnel and into the crowd.

At first, Ryan did not know if the man was Antifa or a police officer. Then someone from the crowd punched the man that was being dragged straight in the face. Ryan was able to see that it was a police officer who got punched. Ryan turns around and screamed “Alex!” and then points at the officer who was clearly in distress.

RYAN NICHOLS’ OFFICIAL STATEMENT REGARDING FANONE: OCTOBER 28, 2021

I learned several rescue techniques in the Marine Corps, including one during ‘Work Rescue Drills” where you have to drag a victim to safety with two hands while holding them close to your body. There are different variations of this, depending on the rescue scenario. And after years of my own search and rescue work, I have found a few techniques to be very effective. For instance, when rescuing a person in danger of drowning, I grab them with two hands which as much force I can muster, pull them close to my body, and then to safety. Here, right after my instinct to help Fanone kicked in, the unction to deploy this technique followed straight away.

The whole Officer Fanone situation looks much slower on video compared to how it actually played out in real life. What I can tell you is this: the way he was dragged out of the tunnel and into the crowd, is similar to someone being dragged out to sea. And like an injured man floating down a river, he looked to be heading into greater danger– fast. I knew that if I could intercept the path he was traveling that I could (1) grab him and pull him to safety, (2) redirect him in the direction of safety, and/or (3) ensure that he was not dragged past me and into potentially deeper and more perilous waters.

When the chance came, I tried to grab him with two hands as forcefully as I could, but I could not get a grip. Next Alex, and I— along with a few others made a wall around the area where Fanone was so no one looking to hurt him could get to him. And it those moments, I can say with confidence that he knew he was safe. Officer Fanone was no longer screaming, and did not appear to be gripped by fear or in distress. I have not yet had the chance to see Officer Fanone’s body cam footage, but something tells me that on it, you will hear a bunch of us yelling “hands off!”, “Don’t hurt him!” and “Send him back up!”

YOU BE THE JUDGE.