Certain officers who participated in the defense of the U.S. Capitol complex against rioting Trump supporters during the January attack have been continuing their public activism against the causes of that attempted overthrow of the government. One such officer is Sgt. Aquilino Gonell of the U.S. Capitol Police, who — like substantial numbers of other officers that day — was assaulted by the mob. On Twitter this week, Gonell publicly shredded Trump for his cowardice, pointing out that while frenzied Trump supporters occupy themselves with impugning the officer’s integrity, the reality is that he’s ready to defend anyone in need more than Trump ever would. Gonell has proven this with his service in the military and law enforcement.
Infamously, Trump skipped out on the draft during the Vietnam War under circumstances that many have questioned, and he’s not exactly known as some beacon of courage. He’s a whiny, hyper-privileged buffoon. On Twitter, Gonell pointedly commented as follows alongside images including himself in his military uniform:
‘I had the courage to be deployed to combat. But I’m the coward. You are following a crazy soldier wannabe with a fictional courage who dodged the draft in real life. But I’m [a] coward… The problem with Maga people calling me a traitor or coward is that I’m more likely to go into battle to save them. Trump will sacrifice each and everyone to save is hide…’
Check out Gonell’s posts below:
I had the courage to be deployed to combat. But I’m the coward. You are following a crazy soldier wannabe with a fictional courage who dodged the draft in real life. But I’m coward… pic.twitter.com/PCtB6lXo5F
— Sergeant Gonell, Aquilino (@SergeantAqGo) October 19, 2021
The problem with Maga people calling me a traitor or coward is that I’m more likely to go into battle to save them. Trump will sacrifice each and everyone to save is hide… pic.twitter.com/7Kuw72sh0G
— Sergeant Gonell, Aquilino (@SergeantAqGo) October 19, 2021
Fundamentally, Trump manipulated his followers into doing his bidding and carrying on the torch of the lie that last year’s presidential election was somehow stolen, and this set-up is exactly what provided the rhetorical foundation for the savage violence at the Capitol that left Gonell and others with injuries.
Gonell was one of the officers who testified in July at a public hearing of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot. At the time, he decried efforts by certain individuals in power to gloss over the basic reality of what happened on that fateful day in January. As Gonell put it to Congress:
‘Even though there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary, including hours and hours of videos, and photographic coverage, there’s a continued shocking attempt to ignore or try to destroy the truth of what truly happened that day, and to whitewash the facts into something other than what they unmistakably reveal: an attack on our democracy by violent domestic extremists, and a stain on our history and our moral standing, here at home and abroad.’
There has yet to be any kind of broad reckoning within the Republican Party for their role in fomenting the Capitol violence. Instead, prominent Republicans are continuing to promote outright lies about the integrity of last year’s presidential election, claiming it to have been rigged for Biden despite the fact that no court has accepted this notion.
