“I too was crushed by the rioters. I felt that I was losing oxygen and thought: this is how I’m going to die.” An emotional testimony from US Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell today. On January 6, he attempted to defend the entrance to the Capitol in Washington DC as a mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the building.
Gonell and three other officers are the first to be heard by the parliamentary committee investigating the storming. The hearings should provide more insight into how things could have gone so wrong that day.
But because of the political division in the United States, it is questionable whether the results will really have consequences, says correspondent Marieke de Vries. “Some Republicans try to maintain that nothing happened that day.”
Five dead
Due to the many film recordings, much is already known about what happened on January 6. It was the day that the US Congress would officially confirm Joe Biden’s election win. Trump simultaneously held a rally at the White House for his supporters. The president roused the public with allegations of stolen elections.
Indeed, a large crowd then headed for the Congressional building, the Capitol, and entered without much difficulty. Congressmen experienced moments of fear. They had to hide from the mob and were eventually brought to safety through underground passages.
Dozens of people were injured that day. Five people died, including a police officer.
The hearing began by showing footage of the storming. Officers then told their story emotionally:
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“I heard someone yell: I’ve got one!”
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Still, Republicans and Democrats disagree on the investigation into the storming. Initially, both sides wanted to set up a committee similar to the one investigating the September 11 attacks. But the Republicans ultimately refused to cooperate in such a large investigation.
“Since the storming, Republicans have predominantly sided with Trump,” said De Vries. “Trump says nothing has gone wrong at all and that he certainly did not instigate this.”
‘Research could harm Republicans’
The Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, decided to set up a committee on her own. Most of them are Democratic members. “The Republicans came up with candidates, two of whom were so biased that Pelosi refused them,” says De Vries. The two remaining Republicans on the committee are well-known critics of Trump who hold him partly responsible for the January 6 violence.
She and the Democrats accuse Trump of urging his supporters to storm the Capitol, use force and go after Vice President Mike Pence. Trump says Pence did too little to prevent ratifying Biden’s victory.
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Some Republicans say the stormers were excited tourists.
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Most Republicans dismiss the investigation as a Democrat political game to drive Republican voters away from their party. But in addition, many Republican Congressmen fear that the investigation could actually harm them, says De Vries. “Because difficult questions will also be asked about who from Congress informed Trump about the situation and about the National Guard, which would have been deployed too late.”
Some Republicans even claim that the events of January 6 are greatly exaggerated. De Vries: “They say the stormers were tourists, Trump supporters who just got a little excited and walked in.”
They don’t say that for nothing. “Republican Congressmen know that a large part of their supporters still supports Trump,” said De Vries. “They don’t want to lose that supporters before the midterm elections next year and they certainly don’t want to lose the support of Trump himself. That’s why they stay true to Trump’s line that nothing happened that day.”
That’s why Republicans say: it’s time to move on. “Don’t look back, but look forward. They talk about the country being in much bigger trouble right now and that it should be about that.”
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