Four police officers — two from Congress and two from Metropolitan Police — shared the witness stand as a special committee began a long-awaited investigation into the attempted rebellion on January 6.

The officials wiped away their tears, condemned those who attacked them, and even banged the witness table angrily because they recalled the “meat grinder” of anger triggered by Trump, which almost took their lives and left a lasting mind and body. Scars.

In general, they told a tragic story about violence, fierce racist satire, and open and political betrayal-both from angry Donald Trump supporters, ordinary Americans they vowed to protect, and The relentless attack on the efforts of the partisan Republican Party “whitewashed” the riots that followed in the weeks and months.

‘Go to hell and come back’

“The indifference to my colleagues is shameful,” Washington DC police officer Michael Fanone shouted, slamming the table with his fists to emphasize the point, and pointing out the Republican Party’s efforts to obstruct or downplay the hearing. .

“I think I went to hell and then came back to protect them and the people in this room. But now too many people tell me that hell does not exist, or that hell is not actually that bad.”

Congressional police sergeant Aquilino Gonell burst into tears, describing one time he found himself having difficulty breathing under the pressure of a mob trying to forcibly break into the building.

Gönell said at the hearing: “I can feel that I am losing oxygen, and I think back to myself,’This is how I am going to die, defend this entrance.”

“What we suffered that day was like a medieval battle.”

Watch | Testimony of Congressional Police Sergeant Aquilino Goner (warn: TonHis video contains violent and offensive language):

United States Capitol Police Sergeant. Aquilino Gonell shed tears when testifying to the Congressional Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol on January 6. The American veteran said that he was more afraid of working in the Capitol than during the entire deployment to Iraq. (Source: Associated Press/Chip Somodevilla) 2:53

Fanone repeatedly described the crowd trying to throw his side arms off him, while hearing the shouts of “take his gun” and “kill him with his own gun.”

“They tortured me,” he said. “They kept doing this until I yelled that I had children… Several people did intervene and intervened on my behalf.”

Watch | Testimony from Metropolitan District Police Officer Michael Fanone (warn: TonHis video contains violent and offensive language):

Washington DC police officer Michael Fanone testified on Tuesday that in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, the mob threatened to “kill him with his own gun.” He lashed out at the “indifference” shown by some elected American legislators who downplayed the riots. 1:47

Harry Dunn, one of Gönell’s congressional police colleagues, described how some people in the crowd used racially insulting words about Joe Biden after he told them that he voted for Joe Biden in the presidential election.

“This led to a lot of ethnic nicknames,” including the N word, Dunn continued to describe in detail, adding that he later heard similar stories from other black officers.

The hearing was caught up in the same partisan anxiety that was demonstrated on January 6 and beyond.

Watch | Republicans blocked a congressional investigation “out of fear of Trump”: Senate Democrats:

The Democratic leader of the U.S. Senate, Chuck Schumer, said that voting on a bill to establish an independent committee to respond to the attack on the Capitol on January 6 marked a fundamental change in the Republican Party. 1:38

Mission to find the truth

As one of the only two Republican members on the committee, Congressman Adam Kinzinger reminded witnesses that despite their trauma, they eventually won the seat of American democracy.

“Personally, you might feel a little bit broken…but you won,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“Democracy is not defined by our bad days. We are defined by how we recover from bad days and how we take responsibility for it. For all the overheated comments surrounding this committee, our mission is very simple: It is to find the truth. This is to ensure accountability.”