The house select
committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol conducted its
first meeting on Tuesday. Four police officers who were on duty during the riot
gave their testimony before the committee. The cops spoke about the physical
and verbal assaults they faced responding to the riot on that day.

The four
officers before the committee were: Pfc Harry Dunn and Sgt Aquilino Gonell of
the US Capitol Police and Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges of the Washington DC
Metropolitan Police Department. `

The four
cops gave their opening remarks and answered questions about the series of
events on January 6.

Recounting
the events of the day, Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn said that he was right
outside the Speaker’s lobby when one of the rioters said, “Trump invited us
here” and that Donald Trump was still the President of the United States of
America.

In an
impassioned speech, Dunn recalled how racist abuses were hurled at him.

Michael
Fanone of the Metropolitan PD described the scenes outside the US Capitol on
January 6 “nothing short of brutal”. He said that as he walked towards the
Capitol’s West Front, thousands of rioters were violently clashing with the
police.

Fanone
severely decried those in Congress who are “downplaying or outright denying
what happened” that day, saying, “I feel like I went to hell and back to
protect them.”

“The
indifference shown to my colleagues is disgraceful. Nothing, truly nothing
prepared me to address those elected members of our government who continue to
deny the events of that day. And in doing so betray their oath of office,” said
a furious Fanone pounding the witness table.

Daniel
Hodges, Fanone’s colleague chose to call the Capitol rioters “terrorists”.  

House committee chairman Bennie Thomson, in his opening
remarks, said, “Some people are trying to deny what happened. To whitewash it.
But the whole world saw what happened on January 6.