Tears and a frustrated slammed fist punctuated the testimony from four emotional Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police officers during the first House select committee hearing to investigate the Jan. 6 riot on Tuesday.
Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell teared up, taking a moment to compose himself, as he described realizing that his family members in the U.S. and abroad were “were frantically calling and texting me from 2 p.m. onward” while watching the violence on television.
When he got home, he pushed away his wife when she came to give him a hug, because of the chemicals on his uniform.
“We’re not asking for medals or recognition. We’re simply asking for justice and accountability,” Gonnell said.
CHENEY WARNS OF ‘ANOTHER JAN. 6 EVERY FOUR YEARS’ WITHOUT COMMITTEE INVESTIGATION
“During the Black Lives Matter protests last year, U.S. Capitol Police had all the support we needed and more,” Gonell said. “Why the different response?”
Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell tears up while testifying about being attacked by rioters on January 6, sustaining injuries he still suffers from today
“I could feel myself losing oxygen and recall thinking to myself, ‘This is how I’m going to die, defending this entrance'” pic.twitter.com/INLg6sgj8p
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 27, 2021
“So many of the people I put my life at risk to defend are downplaying or outright denying what happened,” said Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone. “I feel like I went to hell and back to protect them and the people in this room, but too many are telling me that hell doesn’t exist, or that hell actually wasn’t that bad.”
“The indifference shown to my colleagues is disgraceful,” Fanone said, slamming his fist on the table for emphasis.
Searing moment from MPD Ofc. Michael Fanone:
“I feel like I went to hell and back … but now too many people are telling me hell that doesn’t exist or that hell actually wasn’t that bad. The indifference shown to my colleagues is disgraceful.” pic.twitter.com/O2hl6I3ZNU— Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) July 27, 2021
Metropolitan Police officer Daniel Hodges, who at one point was shown on video being crushed by a coordinated mob attempting to break into the Capitol, clearly called those in the mob “terrorists.”
One rioter yelled at him “You will die on your knees,” he said. Another attempted to gouge his eye out with his thumb, but Hodges shook him off before any permanent damage was done.
“To my perpetual confusion, I saw the ‘thin blue line’ flag,” Hodges said.
Striking in Officer Hodges’s statement:
He describes the riotous mob attacking him as “terrorists,” as he rattles off the alleged acts of assault—including, here, an attempt to gouge out his eye. pic.twitter.com/Si3WHsJzva
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) July 27, 2021
Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn described getting a screenshot from a friend showing rioter plans to target the Capitol, urging demonstrators to bring “trauma kits” and “gas masks” and to “keep your guns hidden.” But because he had not received any threat warnings from his chain of command, he did not believe the Capitol and officers were at risk.
He described rioters calling other black officers and himself the n-word to their faces. “No one had ever — ever — called me a n***** while wearing the uniform of a Capitol Police officer,” Dunn said.
Dunn began his testimony with a moment of silence for Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, “who died from injuries he sustained in the line of duty defending the Capitol of our beloved democracy,” he said. A medical examiner report found that said Sicknick’s cause of death was “acute brainstem and cerebellar infarcts due to acute basilar artery thrombosis,” and a “natural” death not considered to be “hastened by an injury.”
Until January 6th, “no one had ever, ever called me ni**er while wearing the uniform of a Capitol Police Officer.”
– Officer Harry Dunn#January6thCommission pic.twitter.com/B9I0ERSETM
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) July 27, 2021
Fanone, normally a plain-clothes officer who put on his uniform in order to assist with the mob response, described being in a tunnel attempting to fend off the mob. He described being dragged from the line of officers and into the crowd.
“I heard someone scream, ‘I got one!'” Fanone said. “As I was swarmed by a violent mob, they ripped off my badge. They grabbed and stripped me of my radio. They seized ammunition that was secured to my body. They beat me with their fists and with what felt like hard metal objects.”
“At one point, I came face-to-face with an attacker who repeatedly lunged for me and attempted to remove my firearm. I heard chanting from some in the crowd: ‘Get his gun, and kill him with his own gun,’” he said. “I was electrocuted again, and again, and again, with a taser. I’m sure I was screaming, but I don’t think I could even hear my own voice.”
He said that he considered using his firearm on the attackers, but knew that he would be quickly overwhelmed. After yelling that he had children, someone helped him away from the mob. He was unconscious for about four minutes, and the hospital told him that he had suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain disorder.
Fanone’s body camera caught the assault, and some of it was shown later in the hearing.
My God. The January 6 footage from Officer Fanone’s body camera is harrowing and at one point shows him yelling to the insurrectionists assaulting him, “I’ve got kids!” pic.twitter.com/7QfVPKIVrc
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 27, 2021
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Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to sit on the committee, asked Gonell about a statement from former President Donald Trump that said the mob was “hugging and kissing the police and the guards.”
“He himself helped to create his monstrosity,” Gonell said. “If that was hugs and kisses, then we should all go to his house and do the same thing to him.”
