Sgt. Aquilino Gonell of the U.S. Capitol Police — who is among the officers who defended the Capitol against rampaging Trump supporters during the attack in January — joined those calling on Americans to turn out against Trump and the GOP on Tuesday. This week, states around the country were set to have high-profile elections, including the prominent Virginia governor’s race, which pitted Democrat Terry McAuliffe against Republican Glenn Youngkin in a contest that polls showed to be very close. Quite simply, a lot is at stake — while one party (the Democratic Party) focuses largely on issues like boosting the standings of everyday Americans, the other trains its focus on undercutting democracy.
Gonell, who was injured in an assault perpetrated by Trump supporters at the Capitol on that fateful day, saw the threat to democracy posed by Trump and his cronies firsthand. He pointedly commented as follows:
‘Elections have consequences. Trump and January 6 are two of them. Exercise your vote.’
Elections have consequences. Trump and January 6 are two of them. Exercise your vote.
— Staff Sergeant Gonell, Aquilino (@SergeantAqGo) November 2, 2021
This occasion is not the first instance when Gonell has spoken out in such a manner. He also participated in a public hearing in July that was put on by the House committee investigating the Capitol riot, where he shared his harrowing experiences — and went after the Republicans who’ve opted to pretend as though the basic reality of what took place on January 6 was somehow something else. As Gonell succinctly put it during that high-profile summer hearing:
‘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.’
More recently, the riot investigation committee has turned its attention towards pursuing records from the Trump administration related to the Capitol attack. Trump has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to prevent the release of those records, but the committee is standing by its push. At issue are hundreds of pages of materials, including items like handwritten notes from then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows regarding the events of January 6.
