This is how I’ll die: officer relives the Capitol invasion

A policeman attacked by Donald Trump supporters in the Capitol riot has told an inquiry the scene was like ‘a medieval battle’.

US Capitol Police officer Sgt. Aquilino Gonell during the Select Committee investigation of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Picture: AFP

A police officer who was attacked by a mob of Donald Trump supporters told an inquiry into the Capitol riot that he thought: “This is how I’m going to die.”

Aquilino Gonell was one of four officers who gave impassioned testimony yesterday to a congressional committee investigating the attempted insurrection on January 6.

Calling the mob “terrorists”, they were the first to give evidence, more than six months after the incident in which five people died and hundreds were injured.

Gonell said he was punched and kicked by rioters wielding knives and batons as they attempted to get into the congressional chambers to prevent President Trump being turfed out of the White House. Struggling at times to maintain his composure, the Iraq war veteran said that the scene resembled “something from a medieval battle”, adding: “I could have lost my life that day. Not once but many times.”

He said that scores of officers, some of whom were not on duty but rushed to the Capitol when they heard that colleagues were in trouble, “fought hand to hand, inch by inch, to prevent an invasion” of the building.

“My fellow officers and I were punched, kicked, shoved, sprayed with chemical irritants and even blinded by eye-damaging lasers by a violent mob who apparently saw us ... as an impediment to their attempted insurrection,” he said.

He added that his family feared he had been killed, and again held back tears as he described not being able to hug his wife afterwards because his clothes were covered in chemicals sprayed by the protesters.

US Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell with Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger after giving his testimony. Picture: AFP

The riots took place as Congress was certifying the election victory of Joe Biden, 78, over Trump. The defeated president had addressed the mob in front of the White House before they marched on the Capitol. “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country any more,” he told them. About 10,000 people then headed for Congress.

Trump, 75, was impeached for his actions by the House of Representatives, but acquitted after a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate. He said later there was a “lot of love in the crowd”.

Asked to respond to that comment, Gonell said he was “still recovering from those hugs and kisses”.

Michael Fanone, the second officer to testify, said he was beaten unconscious and suffered a heart attack. His weapon was stolen by rioters chanting “Kill him with his own gun.” He said: “I was beaten, tasered, called a traitor to my country. I was electrocuted again and again and again with a Taser. I’m sure I was screaming but I don’t think I could hear even my own voice.”

Trump supporters clash with police and security forces outside the US Capitol in January. Picture: AFP

The committee has attracted controversy and has little bipartisan support. It was formed by Nancy Pelosi, 81, the Speaker of the House, after Senate Republicans voted against forming a commission of the sort that investigated the attacks of September 11, 2001. That would have been made up of five Democrats and five Republicans; instead, the nine-strong committee includes only two Republicans - Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger - both of whom voted to impeach Trump after the riots.

Fanone condemned those Republican politicians he said he had fought “so desperately to defend” on January 6 for refusing afterwards to investigate what had happened. He said that they were betraying their oath of office.

As the hearing took place on Capitol Hill, several Republican members of Congress, including Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, were planning a protest in front of the nearby justice department to demand “answers on the treatment of January 6 prisoners”. More than 550 people have been charged with riot-related offences.

Supporters of the then outgoing US President Donald Trump inside the US Capitol. Picture: AFP

Harry Dunn, a black officer, said that the mob had racially abused him, as well as attacking him physically. “One woman in a pink Maga [Make America Great Again] shirt yelled: “This n...er voted for Joe Biden’,” he said. “Then the crowd, perhaps around 20 people, joined in, screaming ‘F..king n...er’. It didn’t hinder me from doing my job. But once I was able to process it, it hurt.”

He added: “If a hitman is hired, and he kills somebody, the hitman goes to jail. But not only does the hitman go to jail, but the person who hired him does. There was an attack carried out on January 6 and a hitman sent them.”

The fourth officer, Daniel Hodges, said that the protesters had tried to blind him. “Terrorists pushed through the line and engaged us in hand-to-hand combat,” he said. “Several attempted to knock me over and steal my baton. One latched on to my face and got his thumb in my right eye, attempting to gouge it out. I did the only thing I could do: scream for help.”

US Capitol Police detain protesters outside of the House Chamber. Picture: AFP

Bennie Thompson, the committee’s chairman, opened proceedings by rejecting allegations that its findings would be pre-determined. “There’s no place for politics and partisanship in this investigation,” he said.

He then asked for a video to be played. It showed some of the violence that unfolded, including the doors and windows of the Capitol being smashed, rioters calling for Mike Pence, the vice-president, to be hanged and the mob erecting a gallows.

Officers could be heard shouting, “Hold the line” as the number of rioters grew. “We are still taking metal, sharpened objects, missiles, bottles and rocks and hand-thrown chemical grade fireworks,” one besieged officer was heard telling a supervisor over police radio.

The Times