7/28/21 Select Committee's First Hearing was Eye-Opening -- and Emotional

A half day of testimony from police officers on Tuesday opened the House Select Committee's investigation into the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Only four officers spoke -- two from the Capitol Defense Forces and two from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. They were:

-- Michael Hodges, who was videotaped being crushed in a metal doorway while a rioter pushed him around by his face mask.

-- Michael Fanone, who was beaten and tased outside the Capitol, and who escaped only because he exclaimed "I have kids!" He has spoken up repeatedly about the GOP whitewashing the day's events. Fanone said those lawmakers' actions were "disGRACEful," slamming on open palm on the table on "grace." It was the only moment of real anger.

-- Aquilino Gonell, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, a naturalized American citizen, and a US veteran, who talked about being told he wasn't an American. He said he was more afraid that day than he had been at any time in Iraq.

-- Harry Dunn, a Black officer who recounted racing from breach to breach and repeatedly being called a "n*****." He began with a moment of silence for Brian Sicknick, whom he said died of his injuries. He urged his fellow officers to get counseling if they were traumatized, and he asked the committee to review the resources available to officers who fought the crowd that day.

One remarkable moment came when Dunn praised Kevin McCarthy for words he said immediately after the riot had been quelled. "'The violence, destruction, and chaos we saw earlier was unacceptable, undemocratic,and un-American," Dunn quoted. "It was the saddest day I've ever had serving in this institution."

If only McCarthy had stuck with that message, we'd be in a happier country today. As it is, hearing this straightforward, detailed testimony was, at least to me, like starting to heal from an internal injury.

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What was your reaction to the hearings? How do you feel about the testimony today? Did you seek it out on YouTube if you weren't able to watch it live? Did you find yourself unable to tear yourself away once you started watching? And a more trivial question: Did you find yourself -- as I did -- distracted by the bored-looking security agent sitting behind one of the officers as he gave testimony?

What are the GOP Congresspeople going to say now that America has shown this testimony? Are they still going to say it wasn’t an attack, and that the insurrectionists were just tourists? 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/takeaways-january-6-commission-hearing_n_61004412e4b0fd216c1f8184

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/takeaways-january-6-commission-hearing_n_61004412e4b0fd216c1f8184