Capitol Police officer injured on Jan. 6 says Republicans ‘pretend not to see me’ in the hallways

Natalie Prieb
·2 min read
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A Capitol Police sergeant injured in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol said that Republican members of Congress ignore him when they pass him in the hallways of the building.

“For some people, that day came and went, and for me, to this day, I’m still dealing with those ramifications,” Aquilino Gonell said about the riot during an appearance on “Morning Joe” on Thursday. “You try to adapt to your new normal, but it’s hard.”

“When you have multiple number of rioters attacking you, taking turns beating you up and then you have a lot of the people who we protected on that day downplaying what happened. Sometimes I run into them in the hallway and then they pretend not to see me. They ignore me or bolt to the right or to the left or pretend to be doing something else,” Gonell said, adding that the only Republicans who have acknowledged him are Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) and Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.).

“I don’t hold any grudges. I’m still going to be respectful to them, but they don’t want to talk to me. I’m still going to do my job like I did on Jan. 6,” Gonell said.

The officer, who can no longer perform the physical component of his role due to his injuries, said that his personal feelings about the vast majority of Republicans who ignore him in the halls would not stop him from going about his job.

“In order for me to do my job, I don’t need to express my opinion. If they want any more confirmation of that they can take a look at my injuries as proof that I can do my job and protect them without any political opinion expressed of my own,” Gonell said.

The officer’s comments come after he wrote in a New York Times op-ed last weekend that former President Trump “betrayed his oath to defend the Constitution” for his role in the Capitol attack, which has been further analyzed by public testimony over the last several weeks shared with the House select committee investigating Jan. 6.

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