The testimony of police officers beaten and injured by the terrorist mob that invaded the Capitol on January 6 was one of the most dramatic moments in decades of congressional hearings.
One would have to go back to the 1950s, in the so-called witch-hunting frenzy – when corrupt Senator and anti-Communist crusader Joe McCarthy forced Americans to denounce his colleagues and friends under threat of persecution – to witness the explosion. indignation aroused by the hearings (27).
The country has, of course, seen other times of high tension dramatized in Congress, such as the Vietnam War and 9/11. But the four hours of denunciations made by four of the dozen police officers tortured by the invaders illustrated, like never before in recent history, the degree of hatred that a large minority of Americans feels for the majority of Americans.
Awareness of the horror experienced inside the Capitol in January was delayed by two factors. Lawmakers and advisers preparing for the session that would certify Joe Biden’s victory were spared physical violence thanks to the heroic action of the Capitol Police, soon reinforced by a meager contingent of the Washington Metropolitan Police, the criminal of the White House having delayed the dispatch of the National Guard. And the police officers attacked were not allowed to speak to the press during the initial phase of the investigations.
In addition, thousands of hours of video recorded during the invasion had not been released. More than 500 intruders have been arrested and will be brought to justice, prompting the FBI and the Justice Department to delay the release of the footage. A consortium of journalism firms has taken legal action to force the federal government to release the material, and as shown, the scale of homicidal violence is far more serious. It is almost a miracle that only one policeman died as a direct victim of the attack.
Never-before-seen videos were shown during the Congressional hearing between depositions. They’re shocking, but nothing shivers you more than hearing the police describe themselves.
“You’re going to die on your knees,” one of them heard as he was beaten, and when he fell, one of the terrorists tried to blind him. “We’re going to kill him with his gun,” heard another, who was shocked so many times by taser charges, as he was heard screaming for mercy, that he eventually passed out. He then suffered a heart attack and was diagnosed with a concussion.
Harry Dunn, a black police officer, said that until January 6 he had never been called a “nigger,” the worst racial insult, wearing his uniform. And he made the analogy: when a mercenary kills someone, he’s not the only one facing justice. The director is also arrested. Dunn indicted MPs for the identity and punishment of the principal, an obvious reference to Donald Trump.
Officer Daniel Hodges explained that it is important to label your torturers as terrorists. He read lawmakers the legal definition of a domestic terrorist in the United States. More than 9,000 people participated in the invasion. Yes, hundreds of them can be qualified as national terrorists.
After hearing descriptions of the lynchings suffered by the police, a member of Parliament asked Harry Dunn: “Is this America?” Dunn responded, resignedly: “I guess so. But it shouldn’t be.
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