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Sgt. Aquilino Gonell writes in his new book American Shield about how he came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic as a young boy and dedicated himself to his new homeland through his deployment in Iraq and then by serving 17 years working for the United States Capitol Police.
The officer who put his life on the line on Jan. 6 tells The New Abnormal co-host Danielle Moodie that Republicans are trying to rewrite history and portray those who attacked him and his colleagues as the victims.
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“On January 6, they were running for their lives and the only reason they escaped and made it to their homes was because of actions that myself and my colleagues did to protect them,” he says. “On the day of my testimony in front of Congress, instead of listening to us, the police officers, these Republican officials decided to go and do a press conference in front of the Justice Department to demand that these ‘political prisoners’ should be released.”
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“I kept my oath, I did my duty, I did my job, and yet the former president just last week said the very same rioters who attacked me and my colleagues are hostages. These are people who attacked police officers in full uniform, including myself in riot gear. So if they are hostages, if they are patriots, what does that makes me? The hostage taker? The murderer? So am I the bad guy of this story? No. But the way they are questioning it makes it seem like we are the bad guys.”
Gonell said Republicans, along with American voters, have a duty to protect democracy and stop Donald Trump from entering the White House again.
“The same person who incited the violence on January 6... and everybody knows who that is, is the person who is continuing to lead the polls in the Republican field to be the nominee for president again,” he said. “You’ve seen this movie before. You know how it’s going to end. He started his inauguration talking about ‘American carnage.’ Guess what? That’s how he ended things, with American carnage at the same place—at the U.S. Capitol—with us fighting for our lives, fighting for this country.”
“Without the help or the bravery of Republicans to stop him from those impulses he is gonna be a lot worse,” Gonell said.
Plus! Andy Levy talks to former The Daily Beast journalist turned communications consultant, Timothy Burke, about the FBI raid at his home following a leak of embarrassing videos of Tucker Carlson that ended up in the hands of Vice News and Media Matters for America.
Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.
