Tag: Trump insurrection

Officers detail violence they faced on Jan. 6

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During hearing, Justice Department announces another arrest

Officers who fought to defend the Capitol from insurrectionists on Jan. 6 recounted in vivid and disturbing detail how close they came to death, what lasting effects they live with and the pain it causes them when the very members of Congress they fought to protect dismiss what happened that day. 

The first public hearing on Tuesday of the select committee to investigate the attack put on display the terrifying brutality they were subject to. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., commended the four officers who testified. “You held the line that day. I can’t overstate what was on the line: our democracy,” Thompson said. “You held the line.”

Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who served in the Army in Iraq, said at one point during the fighting in the lower west terrace, he could feel himself “losing oxygen” and recalled thinking, “This is how I’m going to die — defending this entrance.” Continue reading.

Jan. 6 select committee to push forward with subpoenas

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Officers testifying ask for answers on which public officials were involved

After hearing hours of gripping testimony from four police officers who endured grave physical and emotional wounds during the Capitol attack, the Jan. 6 select committee members will have time to digest those accounts before the next hearing, which could happen at some point in August.

“It sets the right tone for the work of this committee,” Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said of the four officers’ stories. “But it also says that there is significant work that we have to do over the next few months.”

It’s unclear what the exact focus of the panel will be in the second hearing, but when Thompson asked the officers what they need to see from this inquiry, they relayed that they wanted to know what role elected officials had in it. Continue reading.

‘Some are still suffering’: Months after Capitol riot, police who fought the mob contend with physical, psychological pain

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More than six months after Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell battled the mob that stormed the Capitol, he remains hobbled, a hand scarred, a shoulder aching, recovering from surgery to an injured foot that swelled so large it no longer fit his shoe.

The 42-year-old Capitol Police officer and Army reservist is also seeing a therapist to help with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), first diagnosed after he served in the war in Iraq.

He said bouts of anxiety returned after his battle on American soil in the Jan. 6 riot. Continue reading.

Dating app trips up another Capitol riot suspect, one accused of hitting police with whip

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The phrase “all is fair in love and war” took on a new meaning Friday, when a Texas man was arrested after boasting to a match in a dating app about participating in the Jan. 6 riot “from the very beginning.”

Andrew Taake of Houston was charged with assaulting police and storming the Capitol building. His arrest follows a months-long investigation spurred by a tip and a FedEx delivery driver who confirmed his identity to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Taake made his initial court appearance Friday in the Southern District of Texas, according to a Department of Justice news release. His public defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Continue reading.

Suspect Tries to Compare Capitol Riot to Last Year’s Violence in Portland, Ore.

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Right-wing news media and Republican politicians have often made the comparison. Now, in a narrow legal context, a judge will consider the argument.

The comparison has become a staple among right-wing figures in the news media and Republican politicians: The attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 was really no different than the unrest last year that accompanied months of racial justice protests. Any discussion of the first should — out of fairness, they have said — make reference to the second.

Now, for the first time, a federal court is poised to consider the merits of that argument, albeit in a narrow legal context.

The move comes in the case of Garret Miller, a Dallas man charged with storming the Capitol and facing off with officers inside. Last month, Mr. Miller, 34, raised what is known as a selective prosecution defense, claiming that he had been charged with violent crimes because of his conservative beliefs while dozens of leftist activists in Portland, Ore., had similar charges stemming from last year’s violence reduced or dismissed. Continue reading.

Trump wants to punish GOP critic — but he’s having trouble finding someone who can actually do it

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Donald Trump is laser focused on punishing Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) in a Republican primary race.

The ex-president’s advisers have been pressing potential challengers on their ability to raise money and the strength of their campaign organizations, hoping to find a single candidate to take down Cheney, reported Politico.

“Trump’s analysis is correct that we need to get it down to a two-person race, and at that point, the challenger is likely to win, based on the polling we’ve done,” said David McIntosh, president of the conservative Club for Growth. Continue reading.

Pelosi says GOP antics won’t stop Jan. 6 panel’s work

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday said the panel looking into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol “will not let” GOP “antics stand in the way” of the investigation, offering her first detailed remarks on her rejection of two Republican lawmakers for the committee.

“It’s my responsibility as Speaker of the House to make sure we get to the truth on this, and we will not let their antics stand in the way of that,” Pelosi said at a press conference on Thursday.

Drama unfolded on Wednesday after Pelosi announced that she was rejecting two of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) five nominees, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.). Continue reading.

‘Like Nixon drunk rambling’: Anderson Cooper shocked by new Trump recording blaming Capitol police for Jan. 6

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Reporters Carol Leonnig and Phil Rucker’s new book, I Alone Can Fix It, ends with a conversation with Donald Trump where he rattles off a random slate of conspiracy theories from attacking the 86 judges who wouldn’t rule in his favor to the Supreme Court.

But one major part of the recording has Trump saying that the whole ordeal was the fault of the Capitol Police because they “ushered” the protesters inside the building. Nothing of the sort happened, so it’s unclear where Trump got his information. Protesters used poles and stole police shields to break windows and doors in an effort to get into the building. 

“We want to understand what did you want when you said ‘go up there’?” Leonnig says in the recording, referring to Trump saying that he was going to march with the crowd to the Capitol. Continue reading.

Audio: Trump says he spoke to a ‘loving crowd’ at Jan. 6 rally

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The former president described the atmosphere on Jan. 6 as largely friendly and peaceful in an exclusive interview for the new book ‘I Alone Can Fix It’

When former president Donald Trump sat down for an interview in late March at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., he described the events of Jan. 6 as largely peaceful and his supporters as friendly, saying the audience he addressed at a rally on the Ellipse before the attack on the U.S. Capitol was a “loving crowd.”

Five people later died after thousands of his supporters beat back police to storm through barricades and charge inside the Capitol, and hundreds of lawmakers and their staffers were forced to scramble for safety. But Trump, speaking in an exclusive interview for the new book “I Alone Can Fix It,” said the mob was “ushered in” by police.

“Personally what I wanted is what they wanted,” he said of the crowd. “They showed up just to show support because I happen to believe the election was rigged at a level like nothing has ever been rigged before.” Continue reading.

Weapon arguments made during hearing for former Rocky Mount officer charged in Jan. 6 riot

The federal hearing for a former Rocky Mount police officer accused of violating the conditions of his bond ended Wednesday morning without a ruling from the judge.

Thomas “T.J.” Robertson and another former Rocky Mount officer, Jacob Fracker, face federal charges for participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. On June 30, prosecutors filed a motion to revoke Robertson’s bond after a search of his Ferrum home found firearms and explosive devices. Prosecutors contend Robertson violated the conditions of his release.

Wednesday’s hearing took place in Washington, D.C., with Robertson appearing in person. Robertson’s attorney, Mark Rollins, said the former police officer is being held in Central Virginia Regional Jail in Orange County because he personally knows most of the police in Southwest Virginia. Continue reading.