Chip Somodevilla and John Bazemore / Getty Images
- Greene said she “was a victim of the riot” on January 6 during a hearing on disqualifying her from the ballot.
- In response, Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell posted photos of the injuries he sustained that day.
- Video from January 6 also indicates that Greene was relatively calm and unbothered during the event.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is facing criticism from a member of the Capitol Police that protected members of Congress on January 6 after she said she was a victim of the riot during a hearing on Friday.
Greene is facing a challenge from Free Speech for the People, which is seeking to remove her name from the ballot in Georgia under Article 3 of Section 14 of the Constitution. They argue that Greene has violated that provision — which states that “no person” who’s taken an oath and served as a member of Congress “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion” — and is supportive of the events of January 6.
Seeking to contradict that notion, Greene was briefly questioned by her own lawyer, James Bopp, about her understanding of the events of that day.
“Were you affected by the attack?” asked Bopp.
“Yes, I was,” replied Greene. “I was in the House chamber when it happened. I had to be evacuated to safety, we were held for hours in a secret location protected by Capitol Police, military members, for hours until they cleared the Capitol.”
“Yes, I was a victim of the riot that day,” she added.
Previously, Greene had testified that she “very scared,” “concerned,” and “shocked” by the threat of violence that day, and thought that Black Lives Matter and Antifa-affiliated protestors were causing the violence.
—CSPAN (@cspan) April 22, 2022
Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, among the more outspoken members of the Capitol Police force, responded on Twitter, posting graphic photos of some of the injuries he sustained that day.
“Here are her injuries,” he wrote. “Wait, those are [mine].”
—Staff Sergeant Gonell, Aquilino (@SergeantAqGo) April 22, 2022
And at least one video from January 6 shows Greene laughing and smiling with other Republican members of Congress while they waited in the secure location. Democratic Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware attempted to provide Greene and the other Republicans with masks, but was rebuffed.
Gonell previously testified before the January 6 committee last summer alongside other officers, where he spoke about the lasting trauma he’s experienced as the result of the riot.
He’s also said that he believes some of the rioters’ sentences aren’t harsh enough, and criticized former Vice President Mike Pence for downplaying the attack.
“We did everything possible to prevent him from being hanged and killed in front of his daughter and his wife,” Gonell told NPR. “And now he’s telling us that that one day in January doesn’t mean anything. It’s pathetic. It’s a disgrace.”
Greene had previously sought to block the hearing from happening, but a federal judge in Georgia ruled on Monday that the challenge could go forward. She is the first member of Congress to testify under oath about the events of January 6.
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