Officers share Jan. 6 stories with committee

WASHINGTON (AP) — "This is how I'm going to die, defending this entrance."

Capitol Police Officer Aquilino Gonell told House investigators Tuesday he could feel himself losing oxygen as he was crushed by rioters – supporters of then-President Donald Trump – as he was defending the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who rushed to the scene, told the new House committee investigating the attack that he was "grabbed, beaten, tased, all while being called a traitor to my country." Doctors later told him he'd had a heart attack.

Daniel Hodges, also a D.C. police officer, said he remembers foaming at the mouth as rioters crushed him between two doors and bashed him in the head with his own weapon, injuring his skull.

"I did the only thing I could do, scream for help," Hodges said.

Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn said one group of rioters, perhaps 20 people, screamed the n-word at him as he was trying to keep them from breaching the House chamber.

The four officers gave emotional, occasionally angry, accounts of the attack, in which they were beaten and verbally abused as the mob of Trump' supporters overwhelmed them, broke through windows and doors and interrupted the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's presidential win. The new committee is launching its probe with a focus on the law enforcement officers who protected them — an effort by the panel to put a human face on the violence of the day.

Tensions on Capitol Hill have only worsened since the insurrection, with many Republicans playing down, or outright denying, the violence that occurred and denouncing the Democratic-led investigation as politically motivated. Democrats are hoping to win public support for the probe by reminding people how brutal it was, and how the law enforcement officers who were sworn to protect the Capitol suffered serious injuries at the hands of the rioters.

The officers emotionally detailed the horror of their experiences, their injuries and the lasting trauma as they begged the lawmakers to investigate the attack. They wiped away tears and paused to compose themselves as they spoke.

Rebuking Republican lawmakers who have resisted the hearings, Fanone said, "I feel like I went to hell and back to protect them and the people in this room."

Pounding his fist on the table in front of him, he said, "Too many are now telling me that hell doesn't exist or that hell actually wasn't that bad. The indifference shown to my colleagues is disgraceful."

The panel's chairman, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson played video of the attack and told the police officers: "History will remember your name." He said the rioters "came ready for a fight, and they were close to succeeding."

Thompson added: "There's no place for politics and partisanship in this investigation."

Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans on the panel, gave opening remarks after Thompson — an effort by Democrats to appear as bipartisan as possible. She expressed "deep gratitude for what you did to save us" and said they would not be forgotten.

"The question for every one of us who serves in Congress, for every elected official across this great nation, indeed, for every American is this: Will we adhere to the rule of law, respect the rulings of our courts, and preserve the peaceful transition of power?" Cheney asked. "Or will we be so blinded by partisanship that we throw away the miracle of America?"