ICYMI: Officers Attacked by January 6th Insurrectionists Discuss Trump Pardons with MSNBC’s Joy Reid
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, Courage for America council members, former Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, former Capitol Police Officer Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, as well as Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges, sat down with MSNBC’s Joy Reid to discuss the pardoning of January 6th insurrectionists by President Donald Trump. In one of his first acts after returning to the White House, Trump issued pardons and/or commutations for the more than 1,500 rioters who attacked the United States Capitol on January 6th, 2021, in the hopes of overturning a free and fair election.
“The people who assaulted me, some of them never got to be sentenced,” said former Capitol Police Officer, Sergeant Aquilino Gonell. “Yesterday, I was supposed to be in court for one of them and I never got to tell the court what they did to me. He’s one of many other ones that I have pending this month and next month. And, unfortunately, the same people who attacked us are the same people who blame us for what happened…If you are pro-police, why are you attacking the police in the first place…They don’t see the hypocrisy that they’re the ones that attacked the police, not the police attacking them.”
“On Monday, Donald Trump was inaugurated and the Capitol Police were responsible for keeping him safe. Think about that.” said former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn. “The individual who sent a mob to attack those officers, the same officers who kept him safe on Monday…I had to resolve the fact that it’s not about an individual. It’s protecting an institution.
Multiple pardoned insurrectionists have already called for retribution against those who defended the Capitol or later prosecuted them for their crimes. Through its recent ad campaign, Courage for America has been warning that these pardons would release violent criminals back into our communities, calling on members of Congress to oppose President Trump’s disregard for the law by pardoning insurrectionists. Donald Trump has ensured that some of the most violent offenders are roaming the streets, foreshadowing more violence, and endangering innocent people.
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