A Capitol Police Department sergeant said on Tuesday that he was more afraid to work at the Capitol on January 6 than he was during his entire military deployment in Iraq.
During a hearing before the House of Representative’s select committee that is investigating the January 6 riots at the Capitol, Sergeant Aquilino Gonell said, “on January 6, for the first time, I was more afraid to work at the Capitol than my entire deployment to Iraq.”
“In Iraq, we expected armed violence because we were in a war zone, but nothing I experienced in the army or as a law enforcement officer, prepared me for what we confronted on January 6,” Gonell continued.
Gonell compared the events of the January 6 riots to a “medieval battle,” and said that he and other officers “fought hand to hand, inch by inch to prevent an invasion of the Capitol by a violent mob intent [on damaging the country’s democratic process].”
During his remarks before the select committee, Gonell became emotional as he recalled the day after the riots and said that he had to push his wife away due to all the chemicals he had on his uniform.
“I couldn’t sleep because the chemicals reactivated after I took a shower and my skin was burning,” Gonell said. “I finally fell asleep two hours later, completely physically and mentally exhausted, yet by 8 a.m. I was already on my way back to the Capitol. And I continued to work for 15 consecutive days after the inauguration. I made sure to work despite my injuries because I wanted to continue doing my job and help secure the Capitol complex.”
Gonell noted that even six months after the Capitol riots, he is still working to fully heal from all of his injuries sustained on January 6.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated when more information becomes available.
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