Against Trump's lies Capitol police officers support Joe Biden

Three police officers who were deployed during the storming of the US Congress on January 6, 2021 are joining the election campaign. Their mission: they don't want Donald Trump to get away with his lies.

Aquilino Gonell has largely recovered from the brutal attacks by Donald Trump's supporters on January 6, 2021, but not completely. The former US Capitol police officer's right foot is still held together by screws and a metal plate following an operation, and his shoulder is also still restricted. His emotional recovery is also proving difficult.

Trump's visit to the seat of the US government in June was a setback for Gonell. The former president spoke of a "hero's welcome" from the Republican MPs, whom the police officer and his colleagues had protected from the rioters in 2021. And last week, Trump falsely stated in a televised debate that many of the rioters - his supporters - had been "brought in by the police".

Trump's visit to Congress was a trigger for his post-traumatic stress disorder, says Gonell, who retired in 2022 because of his injuries and has recently been campaigning for President Joe Biden. "We did what we needed to do to ensure the safety of these elected officials, and instead of siding with us, siding with the officials, they sided with a person who put their life on the line."

Trump sticks to the lie

Three and a half years after storming the Capitol, Trump is sticking to the lie that the election was stolen from him. He promised that if he won the election, he would pardon his supporters who beat police officers and broke into the Capitol to prevent Biden from being installed as president. To counter the misinformation, Gonell and two colleagues who were also on duty on January 6, 2021, are working with Biden's campaign team. They are attending rallies in contested US states to ensure that voters do not forget the events of that day.

A video of Daniel Hodges also went viral on social media that day. It showed the police officer being pinned between two doors. "I am a living primary source on an important day in American history," he says. "I try to use that to let people hear the truth from someone who was on the scene."

Together with former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, Hodges and Gonell describe to their listeners what they went through on January 6 and try to make the contrast between Biden and Trump clear. This is an unusual move for police officers, who are used to keeping their political views to themselves.

Trump as a danger to the country

"I'm actually an introvert and not someone who likes to grab the microphone or seek an audience," says Hodges. "But I'm in this unique position where people are listening to what I have to say on an important issue. So I feel a moral obligation to do that." At recent events in the US states of Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona, the three men described Trump as a danger to the country.

"After three and a half years, the fight for democracy continues," Dunn recently told a group of voters in Phoenix, Arizona. "Donald Trump is still the threat. His deranged, selfish, obsessive quest for power is the reason violent insurgents have attacked my colleagues and me."

The officials also strongly disagree with Trump's statements in the TV duel. There he had falsely stated that it was a "relatively small" group of protesters that the police had allowed into the Capitol. More than 1400 people have been charged in connection with the riot. In an effort to keep more intruders out of the building, police officers were injured, some of them seriously.

Dunn said after the debate that the ex-president's claims were "a slap in the face, but that was to be expected from Donald Trump". In their own words, the three police officers continue to stand firmly behind Biden, even though he was heavily criticized for his performance in the duel. "He could have been a little more forceful, but I prefer the person who doesn't send a mob to kill me and my colleagues over the other person," says Gonell, who published a book about his experiences last year. "I am reminded of that horrible day every single day. Every time I put my shoes on, I see my scar." Gonell was involved in some of the most serious fights against Trump supporters on Jan. 6.

In the weeks that followed, Dunn, Hodges and he had received a lot of public recognition. However, their criticism of Trump has seen them fall out of favor with parts of the Republican party in recent years. During a visit to the Pennsylvania legislature in spring, Gonell and Dunn were booed by Republican MPs. But the police officers are not deterred by this: they continue to fight to ensure that January 6 is not forgotten.

dpa