Jan. 6 took his career and health, former Capitol Police sergeant says on 5-year anniversary of Capitol riot

Jan. 6 took his career and health, former Capitol Police sergeant says on riot’s 5-year anniversary

Former U.S. Capitol Police Officer Aquilino Gonnell, shown here at a 2024 rally in Phoenix for President Joe Biden, said the impact of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack has never left him. (Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy/Arizona Mirror)By Mike Murillo Five years after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, a Capitol Police officer who was badly injured that day said the impact never faded, and in some ways continues to grow. Former Capitol Police …

Jan. 6 took his career and health, former Capitol Police sergeant says on 5-year anniversary of Capitol riot

Five years after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, a Capitol Police officer who was badly injured that day said the impact never faded, and in some ways continues to grow. Former Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell said political decisions since the attack have reopened the physical and emotional scars he still carries. “I don’t see it as a five-year mark or anniversary. I see it as a day of remembrance,” Gonell told WTOP. Gonell said the C…

Aquilino Gonell, former Capitol sergeant: ‘If it hadn’t been for the police, the US would be a dictatorship’

There are unsung heroes who put their lives at risk for others, heroes like 46-year-old former police sergeant Aquilino Gonell on January 6, 2021. On that day, a mob of fanatical followers of Donald Trump attempted to attack the U.S. Capitol, the symbol of the people’s sovereignty. Gonell, who was born in the Dominican Republic, put himself into God’s hands to defend the Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the building. On that day, legislato…

Reader’s Editorial: A horrific anniversary

Reader's EditorialsJanuary 6Politics and local governmentEditorialsBy Adam Schiff, California Senator January 6, 2026 (Washington D.C.) -- Few days in our country’s history have made as big an impact on me, and on our democracy, as January 6, 2021. Even five years removed, I remember the January 6th attack on the Capitol like it was yesterday. The sounds of the mob outside. Of insurrectionists storming the Capitol building and breaking doors and…