- Metro Police officer Michael Fanone described being 'swarmed by a violent mob.'
- USCP Sgt. Auillino Gonell: “I was more afraid to work at the Capitol' than during an Iraq tour.
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi formed the committee, which includes two Republicans.
- Rep. Liz Cheney said the events of Jan. 6 cannot be left 'uninvestigated.'
White House responds
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that while the president had not watched the testimony, many White House officials had seen the committee's opening testimonies.
Psaki said the stories recounted by the officers were "compelling, heartwrenching, painful and at moments a reminder of the shameful events of Jan. 6. and of the incredible bravery of the men and women of law enforcement who put themselves in harm's way to protect the Capitol, our democracy and members of Congress from both parties."
Psaki also said Biden strongly supports the officers, one of whom recounted a story where he was called a racial slur after telling rioters he voted for Biden.
"That testimony, I think, will stick with people for some time to come," she said.
Psaki added that there were necessary next steps on the investigation and the broader struggle against extremism, including a need "for democracy, for voting rights, to fight for moving forward from the events that were a dark day in our democracy. That's why (Biden) strongly supports the actions by Speaker Pelosi and the efforts to get to the bottom of January 6 so that we can prevent it from ever happening again."
Officers describe racism, white extremists at Jan. 6 riots
During their testimonies, officers recounted their experiences with racism from the mob assaulting the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Officer Aquilino Gonell of the Capitol Police, who immigrated from the Dominican Republic and is a naturalized U.S. citizen and Army veteran, said that at different points rioters told him "you're not an American.”
Officer Daniel Hodges of the Metropolitan Police Department, who is white, recalled an inverse experience in which rioters were angry he was attempting to stop them from advancing. One rioter asked him, “Are you my brother?” in an attempt to recruit him, Hodges said.
Video of the attack played during the committee hearing displayed rioters calling officers “traitors” for defending the Capitol, with some indigently declaring “We are not Black Lives Matter!” in reference to racial justice activists with whom police often clashed last summer.
"There are some who expressed outrage when someone simply kneeled for social justice … Where are those same people expressing outrage to condemn the violent attack on law enforcement officers, the U.S. Capitol, and our American democracy?” Gonell asked.
White supremacist and other extremist symbols were present at the Jan. 6 Capitol riots alongside pro-Trump slogans and banners. Many rioters present have also been found to have ties to militant right-wing organizations and other white supremacist extremist groups.
"This country gave me the opportunity to become anything that I wanted,” Gonell said during his testimony. "I raised my hand several times to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. On January 6th, 2021, I fulfilled my oath once more."
More:First federal law enforcement agent facing felony charges for Capitol riot
Reps. Adam Kinzinger, Adam Schiff get emotional while questioning witnesses
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., both became visibly emotional will questioning the four police witnesses testifying before lawmakers.
“I think it's important to tell you right now though,” said Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the committee. “You guys may like individually feel a little broken.”
“You guys all talk about the effects you have to deal with and, you know, you talk about the impact of that day,” Kinzinger said as choked up.
“But you guys won. You guys held.”
Schiff closed his questioning of the witnesses by reflecting on youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman’s poem during President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
“I'd like to think as Amanda Gorman, so eloquently said that we're not broken, we're just unfinished. Because if we're no longer committed to a peaceful transfer of power after our elections, if our side doesn't win then God help us,” Schiff said.
“We deem elections illegitimate merely because they didn't go our way, rather than trying to do better the next time, then God help us,” he continued.
“And we’re so driven by bigotry and hate that we attack our fellow citizens as traitors if they're born in another country where they don't look like us,” Schiff said before a long pause, continuing, “Then God help us.”
“It must be an Adam thing today,” Schiff added before yielding his time.
USCP officer Harry Dunn recounts being called racial epithets, attacked by Jan. 6 rioters
Officer Harry Dunn testified about his experience defending the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, with rioters cursing and brutalizing him and his fellow officers. Dunn recounted how pro-Trump protests continued to swell at the side of the Capitol all morning, finally becoming violent after thousands had assembled.
Rioters repeated that they were there to “Stop the steal!” and that former President Donald Trump was still the true elected leader of the country because they had voted for him. When Dunn said that he’d voted for Biden and inquired if his vote didn’t matter, the already hostile crowd became irate.
Dunn described how “one woman in a pink 'MAGA' shirt yelled, “You hear that, guys, this (N-word) voted for Joe Biden!"
"No one had ever called me a (N-word) while wearing my Capitol Police uniform. That streak ended on January 6,” Dunn testified.
Dunn also recounted how the aftermath of the day had been a “blur” to him. At one point he broke down in despair in the Capitol rotunda and asked how the attack was even possible, he said.
In the months since the attack, Dunn has said he’s been in support groups for his mental health to deal with the trauma of the attack, declaring that “there’s absolutely nothing wrong” with seeking help. Two Capitol police officers have died by suicide in the months since the attack. "I know so many officers continue to hurt, both physically and emotionally,” Dunn continued.
Dunn thanked members of Congress who had called for greater investigation into the Capitol insurrection and recognition of the toll that it had taken on Capitol Police. He also directly addressed “the rioters, insurrectionists and terrorists of that day” at the Capitol, stating that “democracy went on that night and still continues to this day… you all tried to disrupt democracy and you all failed.”
Schumer: Republicans ‘courage and truth telling has evaporated into smoke’
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., addressed the House’s January 6 commission, calling the insurrection “one of the darkest episodes in the history of our democracy.”
He said it is “important” they “establish a trusting account of what transpired on January 6, and who caused it.”
Schumer then slammed Senate Republicans, who in May blocked a vote on a proposed Senate bipartisan commission to study the Capitol riot.
“We have traveled a very sorry road to get to this place,” Schumer said. “The special committee in the House was forced into existence because Senate Republicans and Leader McConnell blocked the formation of an independent commission.”
“Republicans of all stripes, many in this chamber, demanded accountability and answers. But in the last [6 months], all that courage and truth telling has evaporated into smoke,” the Senate Leader continued.
— Savannah Behrmann
Capitol Police officer Daniel Hodges describes moment of being crushed by rioters during testimony
Capitol Police officer Daniel Hodges described a harrowing encounter with Jan. 6 rioters during his opening testimony to lawmakers Tuesday.
After one rioter tried and failed to build a rapport with Hodges, another rioter told him, “You will die on your knees.”
Hodges was hit in the head during the insurrection, which he suspects led to a concussion he dealt with after the riot. Hodges told lawmakers he was kicked in the chest after a scuffle with one rioter.
“Terrorists were breaking apart the middle fencing and bike racks and the individual pieces, presumably to use weapons,” Hodge said during his testimony.
He also described the rioters as allegedly Christian.
“It was clear the terrorists perceive themselves to be Christians. I saw the Christian flag directly to my front. Another read ‘Jesus is my Savior. Trump is my president.’ Another ‘Jesus is King.’”
“My perpetual confusion, I saw the thin blue line flag, a symbol of support for law enforcement more than once being carried by the terrorists as they ignored our commands and continued to assault us,” Hodges said.
Watch: Officer Daniel Hodges' body cam footage
During a vulnerable moment, Hodges told lawmakers of being tear gassed and having his head bashed in. Hodges said he screamed for help and eventually fellow officers were able to get him to safety.
When more law enforcement showed up to the Capitol, Hodges started clapping.
“Thankfully, as the day wore on, more and more resources had arrived at the Capitol to drive off the terrorists,” Hodges said.
Metro Police officer Michael Fanone recounts near-death experience with rioters
Officer Michael Fanone, a Washington Metropolitan Police officer who was violently assaulted by a mob on video during the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, testified about his near-death experience to lawmakers on Tuesday.
At one point during the riots, Fanone was pulled from the wall of Capitol police by a rioter, who exclaimed “I got one!” once he’d pulled the officer into the crowd.
“As I was swarmed by a violent mob, they ripped off my badge, they grabbed and stripped me of my radio, they seized a munition that was secured to my body. They began to beat me with their fists and what felt like hard metal objects,” Fanone recounted.
He also noted that one rioter yelled, “Get his gun! Kill him with own weapon!” after which rioters began pulling for his firearm. Fanone, being beaten, yelled at the top of his lungs “I have kids!” in a plea for his life. Eventually, some present rioters recanted and pulled Fanone back to law enforcement.
A fellow officer, also brutalized and injured during the riots, drove an unconscious Fanone to a nearby hospital, where doctors told Fanone that he’d experience a heart attack, multiple life-threatening injuries and was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Fanone repeatedly lamented that he did not wish for the investigation in the Capitol to be about politics but rather better understanding the horrors that occurred at the riot. He also expressed anger at the dismissal of his officers by many GOP lawmakers, as well as the spread of conspiracy theories denying the violence or motivations of the Jan. 6 rioters.
“I feel like I went to hell and back to protect them and people in this room, but too many people are now telling me that hell doesn’t exist, or hell wasn’t that bad,” he said.
“The indifference to my colleagues has been disgraceful,” he thundered at another point. While police officers regular put themselves into harm’s way, Fanone noted, the downplaying and denialism of the severity of the Jan. 6 riots has been especially galling and unprecedented, he said.
“But nothing, truly nothing, has prepared me to address the elected members of our government who continue to deny the events of that day and in doing so betray their oath of office,” Fanone said.
What to expect:Jan. 6 committee, which aims to find out who organized and funded Capitol insurrection, holds first public hearing
‘I did not recognize my fellow citizens’: Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell says in opening statement
Capitol Police Sgt. Auilino Gonell delivered an emotional opening statement to the committee, saying he “did not recognize my fellow citizens,” during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
An army veteran, Gonell said his experience during the insurrection was more threatening to his life than serving in Iraq. “I was more afraid to work at the Capitol than my entire deployment to Iraq,” he said.
“Nothing in my experience in the army or as a law enforcement officer prepared me for what we confronted in January 6th.”
During his statement, Gonell described being called a traitor and “falsely accused of betraying my oath.” He said he was shocked at being violently attacked by rioters using the American flag.
“My fellow officers and I were committed to not letting any rioters breach the Capitol. It was a very prolonged and desperate struggle,” Gonell told the committee.
Gonell also described thinking he would die defending the Capitol.
In between emotional pauses, he said he worked for 15 consecutive days after the insurrection because he wanted to help secure the Capitol.
Six months since the riot, Gonell is still recovering from injuries. He will need more surgery and has had “painful and hard” physical therapy.
Gonell also thanked fellow law enforcement forces for helping during the insurrection. “I want to publicly thank all the law enforcement agencies that responded to assist that day for their courage and their support,” he said. “I especially want to thank those Capitol police officers who responded on their own from home after working midnight shifts.”
Rep. Liz Cheney makes forceful case for bipartisan investigation into Jan. 6
In her opening remarks, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., made a bipartisan case for the importance of the Jan. 6 select committee.
"We cannot leave the violence of January 6th and its causes uninvestigated," Cheney said, cautioning that to not do so would invite a Jan. 6-style riot “every four years.”
Cheney's full statement:Liz Cheney calls for answers, accountability on Jan. 6: 'We must know what happened'
Cheney accepted a nomination to serve on the panel by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after being ousted from House GOP leadership for her persistent focus on the role that former President Donald Trump played in inciting violence at the Capitol.
"I have been a conservative Republican since 1984, when I first voted for Ronald Reagan. I have disagreed sharply on policy & politics with nearly every Democratic member of this committee. But in the end, we are one nation under God,” Cheney said.
She has drawn criticism from her party for joining the panel. The congresswoman was undeterred in her first speech on Tuesday.
"We must know what happened here at the Capitol. We must also know what happened every minute of that day in the White House — every phone call, every conversation, every meeting leading up to, during and after the attack,” Cheney urged.
"Our children will know who stood for truth,” Cheney said in her final remarks. “They will inherit the nation we hand to them — a Republic, if we can keep it."
More:Liz Cheney got a fundraising boost, but Trump-friendly Republicans raised big money too
Rep. Bennie Thompson, committee chair, opens January 6 hearing
In his opening statement before the House Select Committee to investigate the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot, Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., emphasized the panel will be “guided solely by the facts.”
“There’s no place for politics or partisanship in this investigation, our only charge is to follow the facts where they lead us,” Thompson said.
He described the insurrection as a “violent attack that involved a vicious assault on law enforcement.”
Who's who:Meet the members of the House's January 6 select committee
While expressing gratitude for the four police officers who are testifying before the committee, Thompson called the men “courageous.”
“It's an honor to have four of these heroes sitting before us today,” he said.
He played a four-minute video showing rioters overrunning police officers, busting windows and invading the U.S. Capitol. Police officers were heard calling for help.
The insurrection, Thompson said after the video finished playing, “looms over our democracy like a dark cloud.”
“We cannot allow ourselves to be undone by liars and cheaters.”
More:House Speaker Pelosi names GOP Rep. Kinzinger to select committee investigating Jan. 6 riot
McCarthy, Scalise, Stefanik slam Pelosi and Jan. 6 committee
Flanked by would-be GOP members of the House Select Committee on Jan. 6, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy excoriated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for denying two Republican lawmakers spots on the investigation, claiming the the panel was a partisan effort.
“Pelosi will only take people onto the committee that will ask the questions she wants asked. That becomes a failed committee and a failed report, A sham that no one can believe,” McCarthy warned at an early morning press conference Tuesday, insinuating that Republicans may not accept any findings from the committee.
“Clearly they’re not searching for the truth, they’re searching for a narrative that Speaker Pelosi has already written,” Rep. Steve Scalise, the second-ranking GOP lawmaker in the House, said at the press conference.
Last week, Pelosi denied seating Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Jim Banks, R-Ind., on the panel over their votes to reject the results of the 2020 election and criticism of the committee’s investigative premises.
Scalise argued that Jordan and Banks were “canceled” by Pelosi, evoking the idea of “cancel culture,” which has garnered popularity among conservatives.
Jordan sought to tie the failures of the Capitol Police on Jan. 6 to calls to “defund the police” in the summer of 2020. “When you spend a year talking about defunding police… it’s kind of hard to actually have police here on Jan. 6,” he said, declining to draw any further causal link.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., chair of the House Republican Conference, called Pelosi an “authoritarian” and a “lame duck speaker” who “doesn’t want the American people to learn the truth or know the facts.”
Absent from the lawmakers’ criticisms was any mention of the causes of the attack on the U.S. Capitol or the motivation for the rioters.
While McCarthy noted he would have liked “a response faster” from Trump during the riot, he quickly pivoted to attacking the House Sergeant at Arms for a message sent to Pelosi notifying her of the riots on the Capitol.
4 police officers to testify
The House Select Committee on Tuesday is set to hold its first congressional hearing on the deadly Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot.
Chaired by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., the committee will call on four police witnesses, two of whom are U.S. Capitol Police officers — Harry Dunn and Aquilino Gonell. The other two witnesses — Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges — are Metropolitan Police officers.
Arriving at this point has not been without drama.
Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's Republican recommendations for the committee, Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana. Pelosi said they undermined the integrity of the committee by opposing certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election and //by criticizing the committee's investigation.
In retaliation, McCarthy threatened to pull all five Republicans he selected out of the process. The three other Republicans — Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, North Dakota Rep. Kelly Armstrong and Texas Rep. Troy Nehls — were not officially appointed by Pelosi to the committee.
Jan. 6 committee:Pelosi rejects GOP picks Jordan, Banks; McCarthy threatens to pull out
On Sunday, Pelosi asked Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois to join the select committee.
“He brings great patriotism to the committee’s mission: to find the facts and protect our democracy,” Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement announcing her decision.
Kinzinger is the second Republican Pelosi has chosen to join the committee; Pelosi previously picked Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.
The panel, created in June after Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan independent commission to study the insurrection, is made up of 13 members.
Related:Pelosi names GOP Rep. Kinzinger to select committee investigating Jan. 6 riot
Watch this file for updates throughout the hearing.
