For those who haven’t experienced violence, January 6, 2021 may feel like a day in the past—but it wasn’t for me. I keep reliving those horrific five hours on that cold Wednesday afternoon as I tried to protect elected officials, regardless of their political ideology, and their staff inside the Capitol — all without a shot being fired.
For doing my job as a sergeant in the Capitol Police, I was beaten and assaulted with multiple weapons by an angry mob until I was covered in blood. My hands, feet and shoulders were all hurt. I thought I would die and never see my wife and young son again.
For the past four years, it has been devastating to me to hear Donald Trump reiterate his promise to pardon insurrectionists on his first day back in office. “I am deeply honored to be able to pardon peaceful protesters, or as I often call them, hostages,” he said in a speech last year. But all of us here and anyone watching on television know that those who attacked the Capitol People are not peaceful protesters. Pardoning them would be an egregious mistake and could mean that some 800 convicted criminals would return to the streets.
It may also have put me at risk as I continued to testify in court and provide victim statements in cases against dozens of rioters who attacked me and my colleagues.
I was one of the lucky ones that day; the riot resulted in nine deaths. Two protesters suffered fatal medical emergencies, including a rioter who overdosed on drugs during the riot and another who was shot and killed by a police officer as he forced his way into the House chamber. One of my colleagues, Officer Brian Sicknick, 42, suffered two strokes from the trauma he suffered while fighting off multiple protesters who sprayed him with a chemical irritant. He didn’t survive. Four D.C. police officers injured in the riot later died by suicide.
My friend Harry Dunn, the first law enforcement official to strongly condemn this brazen uprising, testified that we engaged in primitive hand-to-hand combat with flagpoles, metal bike racks, and improvised weapons such as projectiles, and that police officers were Bleeding, blindness and coughing from bear spray. Harry, who was called a racist, has retired his blue uniform. My colleague Michael Fanone was beaten, burned and electrocuted. He resigned from the Metropolitan Police after suffering a heart attack, concussion and traumatic brain injury. He has been the target of harassment by Trump supporters and has struggled to find stable employment while recovering. Steven Sund, the former Capitol Police chief, was made a scapegoat and resigned under pressure.
I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder while in the military, which required multiple surgeries, years of rehab, and relapse treatment. I was slandered and called a “traitor” because Mr. Trump and some of his fellow Republicans called the riot a “day of love” and “warriors,” “patriots,” “political prisoners” and “peaceful protest.” . Hostage abuse. “
Even though I left the Capitol Police force, that day still haunts me. Now, Mr. Trump’s promised actions threaten to erase the justice we risked everything to fight for.
I never wanted to be a snitch or a troublemaker. I grew up poor in the Dominican Republic, came to this country legally at age 12, and became the first in my family to complete high school and college. I live in Brooklyn, just a few miles from where Mr. Trump grew up in Queens, but the metaphorical distance between us is vast. My father was a taxi driver and he could only give me $100 to help me pay for college. Mr. Trump’s father, a real estate developer, bequeathed him at least $413 million over the years. Mr. Trump evaded the Vietnam draft with a medical exemption for bone spurs and never joined the military, while I completed my degree with GI Bill assistance after enlisting and serving in the Middle East. My experience defending the Capitol against rioters was worse than the combat I saw in Iraq.
What helps me is bearing witness. In the four years since the riot, some 1,561 defendants have been indicted on federal charges for Jan. 6 crimes, many with serious felonies ranging from illegally entering a restricted place with a weapon to seditious conspiracy. Approximately 590 defendants have been charged with assaulting a federal officer, and 169 defendants have been charged with serious bodily injury to a police officer, including assault with a deadly or dangerous weapon; these weapons include swords, axes, knives, Taser-like devices, baseballs Sticks, hockey sticks and reinforced knuckle gloves. More than 300 people pleaded guilty to felonies and more than 200 were found guilty at trial.
Releasing those who attack us would be an affront to justice. If Mr. Trump wants to heal our divided country, he will make their faith stand firm.
While I don’t blame all Trump supporters—some of my own relatives support him—I do abhor what “MAGA” extremism did to me and my team on January 6th. The continued whitewashing of brutality and the collective amnesia of the right. I can’t stand to hear Republicans describe themselves as the party of “law and order.”
Mr. Trump will return to the presidency at the age of 78, and I will have to leave the career I have worked for my entire life at the age of 42 due to an on-the-job injury. Sometimes I wonder why I risked my life to protect our elected officials from the mob incited by Mr. Trump, only to see him return to power stronger than ever. It’s hard to see a rich white man being rewarded for betrayal while I’m being punished for doing my job. Maybe that’s why so many people don’t do the right thing – because it’s hard and painful.
When Mr. Trump recently announced that members of the House Jan. 6 Committee should go to jail, Rep. Jamie Raskin responded: “In America, we only stand trial for criminal offenses. We will not jail people who are unanimously found guilty because they did their jobs and fulfilled their constitutional oath of office.
It gave me hope when Mr. Raskin further reminded everyone that Mr. Trump was impeached for inciting violent insurrection against the Constitution. I admire Republicans like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger who put fairness over party even as they were reprimanded and threatened for their work on committees.
At least I can hear my son call me his hero as we remember those who risked everything to protect our democracy and continue to tell the truth about January 6th.
