Editor’s note: Paragraph 13 contains offensive language and terms of racial abuse
Four police officers who faced attacks and racial slurs as they defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 from a riot by then-President Donald Trump’s supporters were the first on Tuesday to testify before a U.S. House of Representatives investigatory committee.
It was the first hearing before the nine-member panel comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans.
Below are some quotes from Tuesday’s hearing.
COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN BENNIE THOMPSON
“Some people are trying to deny what happened. To whitewash it… Let’s be clear. The rioters who tried to rob us of our democracy were propelled here by a lie.”
REPUBLICAN REPRESENTATIVE LIZ CHENEY
“If those responsible are not held accountable, and if Congress does not act responsibly, this will remain a cancer on our constitutional republic.”
U.S. CAPITOL POLICE OFFICER AQUILINO GONELL
“The rioters called me a ‘traitor,’ a ‘disgrace,’ and shouted that I (an Army veteran and police officer) should be ‘executed.’
“… What we were subjected to that day was like something from a medieval battlefield. We fought hand-to-hand and inch-by-inch to prevent an invasion of the Capitol by a violent mob intent on subverting our democratic process.
