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Five takeaways from a bracing day of Jan. 6 testimony
[The Hill] The House select committee’s first hearing Tuesday to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the United States Capitol was as personal as it was probing. Sober verbal accounts from four police officers who came under physical and psychological attack that day were combined with raw video footage of rioters shouting epithets and using physical force against law enforcement. The panel hearing the testimony was unusually united — especially for present-day Washington. It included seven Democrats and two Republicans all handpicked by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). All were critical of former President Trump, who was impeached for inciting a mob to attack the Capitol. No defenders of Trump were present after Pelosi rejected two of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) choices. Here are five takeaways from the day. DEMOCRATS PICKED THEIR WITNESSES CAREFULLY Each of the four officers selected to testify before the committee had previously shared gripping accounts of their experiences with various news outlets. The panel likely knew what it was getting on Tuesday, and what a nation watching on cable television received was dramatic, stark and personal. "On Jan. 6, for the first time, I was more afraid working at the Capitol than during my entire Army deployment to Iraq," said Aquilino Gonell, a Capitol Police sergeant and Army veteran. Posted by: Besoeker 2021-07-28 |
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