“This is how I’m going to die.” That was what the police officer Aquilino Gonell thought when on January 6 a mob of followers of former President Donald Trump took the United States Congress by storm.
As he visibly recounted this Tuesday moved to a legislative committee investigating these events, Gonell believed that he was going to perish crushed by the crowd .
African-American Harry Dunn, another congressional police officer, said he was the target of racist attacks.
During the attack on the Capitol, five people lost their lives, including a police officer.
Since then, at least 535 people who participated in that action have been stop as , although so far prosecutors have only obtained a few convictions.
The attack led to the start of the second impeachment failed against Trump, who was accused by congressmen of inciting the attack, something that the former president denies.
The investigation is carried out by a committee of the House of Representatives made up almost exclusively of legislators from the Democratic Party, because most of the Republicans decided to boycott the process.
However, Republican Congressmen Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger broke with their party line and have taken part in the investigation.
“If the those responsible are not accountable for their actions, this will continue to be a cancer in our constitutional republic, “said Cheney this Tuesday during the start of the hearings.
The committee was formed after the Republican Party rejected the formation of an independent commission similar to the one that investigated the attacks of the 11 September 2001 (against the Twin Towers and the Pentagon).
A “medieval battlefield”
This Tuesday, four police officers described how they were beaten and assaulted by the mob that entered the Capitol to stop congressmen from certifying the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the November presidential election.
Gonell described what happened as a “medieval battlefield.”
Wiping away his tears, the police officer told how when he got home he kept his wife away due to the amount of irritating chemicals that soaked his uniform.
This veteran of the war The Iraqi government criticized Republicans for what he described as their “ shocking continuing attempt” to “ignore or destroy the truth” about what happened that day.
Asked by Cheney about Trump’s claim that it was a “very loving crowd,” Gonell replied, “I’m still recovering from those hugs and kisses.”
“If that was hugs and kisses, we should all go to his house and do the same to him “He added, although he later clarified that he did not want to imply that anyone was going to Trump’s house and apologized for the” outburst. “
Agent Dunn, for his part, said who told several of the protesters that he had voted for Biden.
“ Does my vote count? I’m a nobody? “, he asked them when they wrongly affirmed that the election had been fraudulent.
“That triggered a torrent of racial epithets. A woman in a pink T-shirt with the slogan MAGA , he yelled ‘you heard that, guys, this [insulto] voted for Joe Biden. ”
“ No one ever called me [insulto] while I was wearing the police officer’s uniform. the Congressional Police “, he added.
” Those words are weapons “
Agent Michael Fanone slammed his fist on the desk while accusing the Republicans of a “shameful” violation of his oath of office.
Congressman Kinzinger, one of the few Republicans who voted in favor of Trump’s impeachment for his role in the attack on the Capitolio seemed to try to hold back tears as he criticized his colleagues.
“We still don’t know exactly what happened. Why? Because many in my party have treated this as if it were another partisan fight . That is toxic and harms the agents and their families, ”said the congressman.
Agent Dunn, for his part, said that he did not process the racial comments until several days later .
“I was just trying to survive that day and get home . When I was able to process it it was very emotional. It was so heartbreaking and disappointing living in a country like this, where they attack you because of the color of your skin. Only to hurt you, “he said.
” Those words are weapons, “he added.
Agent Daniel Hodges’s lips were trembling when they showed him a video in which he was seen trapped in a door, while being beaten by protesters, whom during his testimony he repeatedly described as “terrorists.”
“To my perpetual confusion, I saw the flag of the ‘thin blue line’, a symbol of support for the police, more than once, while the terrorists continued to ignore our orders and attacked us “, he lamented.
Remember that you can receive notifications from BBC News Mundo. Download our app and activate them so you don’t miss our best content.