Ex-Capitol Police Sergeant Implores Trump Not To Make An 'Outrageous Mistake'
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Marking the fourth Jan. 6 anniversary, Aquilino Gonell said Donald Trump's rhetoric about the attack has been "devastating."
A former U.S. Capitol Police officer who suffered serious injuries in the Jan. 6 insurrection reflected on his trauma and implored Donald Trump not to pardon his attackers in a New York Times op-ed marking four years since the violence.
Former Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who left the police force in 2022 due to the mental and physical damage he sustained on Jan. 6, 2021, recalled, “I thought I was going to die and never make it home to see my wife and young son” in the article published Sunday, the eve of the anniversary.
“Over the last four years, it’s been devastating to me to hear Donald Trump repeat his promise to pardon insurrectionists on the first day he’s back in office,” he wrote, noting that Trump has referred to those convicted as “hostages” and “peaceful protesters.”
“But all of us who were there and anyone who watched on TV know that those who stormed the Capitol were not peaceful protesters,” Gonnell said. “Pardoning them would be an outrageous mistake, one that could mean about 800 convicted criminals will be back on the street.”
Gonnell also said pardons could endanger him, “as I’ve continued to testify in court and I’ve given victim statements in cases against dozens of the rioters who assaulted me and my fellow officers.”
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Marking the fourth Jan. 6 anniversary, Aquilino Gonell said Donald Trump's rhetoric about the attack has been "devastating."
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