January 6th Hearings

Sure, and I highlighted the number of police officers injured during GF Riots, which were far more violent based on the vandalism, arson, and looting. I also mentioned the rocks thrown at the cops, unknown liquids, etc. If J6 was violent, then the summer of love was far more violent, yet you don’t here of cops committing suicide because of it.

Two more Washington, D.C., police officers died by suicide in the months after defending the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot by Trump supporters, bringing the grim tally of such deaths to four.

One of those cops, 43-year-old Gunther Hashida, was found dead at his home last Thursday, according to a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan (D.C.) Police Department.

Hashida, joined the MPD in May 2003, and most recently was assigned to the emergency response team within the Special Operations Division.

Hours later, the MPD confirmed that another officer from the same department, Kyle deFreytag, died by suicide, and was found July 10.

DeFreytag, 26, had been with the department since November 2016.

A crowdfunding page set up Sunday to pay for a memorial service for Hashida, and to support his family, as of Monday night had raised more than $68,000 from more than 1,500 donors.

The GoFundMe page, which has a $250,000 donation target, said Hashida “leaves behind a loving wife, sister, 3 children, and a wonderful family.”

An online obituary for deFreytag said he “liked hiking, camping, riding his motorcycle, he liked traveling and playing the drums, he enjoyed trying different ethnic foods and always knew the best places to eat.”

“Kyle was kind, he had a quick wit and a great sense of humor & kept us laughing for 26 years,” the obituary said.

The indifference shown to my colleagues is disgraceful: Officer testimony today

So far, five police officers have died in connection with the Jan. 6 riot.
Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who collapsed in his office after responding to the riot, died Jan. 7 from two strokes. Washington’s chief medical examiner has said that “all that transpired” during the riot played a role in Sicknick’s condition.
Two other officers who responded to the Capitol riot died by suicide within a month of the attack. 
Those officers, Jeffrey Smith of the MPD and Howard Liebengood of the Capitol Police, both had been with their departments for more than a decade.

The riot began after then-President Donald Trump urged attendees at a rally outside the White House to march to the Capitol, where a joint session of Congress was meeting to officially confirm the Electoral College victory of Joe Biden as the next president.

Hundreds of Trump supporters invaded the Capitol grounds and buildings, disturbing the proceedings.

More than 500 people have been arrested for alleged crimes related to the invasion.

About 140 officers from both the Capitol Police and the D.C. department were injured in the melee.

 At a congressional hearing last week, four officers described being attacked, berated and threatened with death by throngs of people, many of whom were wielding weapons.
“I was at risk of being stripped of and killed with my own firearm, as I heard chants of, ‘Kill him with his own gun,’” MPD Officer Michael Fanone testified.

Another cop, Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, vented frustration at the hearing at some members of Congress who have downplayed the danger from the riot.

“The same people who we helped, the same people who we gave them the borrowed time to get to safety, now they are attacking us, they are attacking our characters,” Gonell said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, issued statements of condolence for the deaths of Hashida and deFreytag.

“The loss of fallen officers who defended our democracy that day is devastating, and each life lost is a tragedy that America mourns, deeply,” said Pelosi, who used the words “hero” and “patriot” to describe the cops.

Mobs of Trump supporters attacked police officers, threatening their lives and hurling racial slurs as they stormed the Capitol, law enforcement witnesses told House lawmakers Tuesday in the Jan. 6 select committee’s first hearing on the insurrection.

“I was grabbed, beaten, Tased, all while being called a traitor to my country,” Metropolitan Police Department Officer Michael Fanone testified.

“I was at risk of being stripped of and killed with my own firearm, as I heard chants of, ‘Kill him with his own gun.’”

Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer Michael Fanone listens to testimony during the House select committee hearing on the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 27, 2021.

The four officers’ testimony painted a picture of a vicious, weapon-wielding mob that was willing to assault police in pursuit of its goal of stopping Congress from confirming Joe Biden’s electoral victory over then-President Donald Trump, who had spent weeks falsely claiming the election had been stolen from him.
“They literally were there to ’Stop the Steal,” said Capitol Police PFC Harry Dunn, referencing a phrase Trump employed repeatedly after his loss to Biden, including at a rally right before the invasion began.

Dunn, who is Black, also described being berated with racial slurs by a group of Trump supporters when they found out he had voted for Biden.

Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer Harry Dunn listens during the House select committee hearing on the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 27, 2021.

“One woman in a pink ‘MAGA’ shirt yelled, ‘You hear that, guys, this n----- voted for Joe Biden!’ Then the crowd, perhaps around 20 people, joined in, screaming ‘Boo! F------ n-----!’” he said.

Dunn later testified that he “wasn’t able to process it as a racial attack” at the time. “I was just trying to survive that day and get home,” he said.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who is leading the panel and chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., stressed at the start of the hearing that the problems that led to the invasion have not been solved.

“This threat hasn’t gone away. It looms over our democracy like a dark cloud,” Thompson said.

Earlier Tuesday, Cheney suggested that the investigation might subpoena Trump and House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy. “It could,” Cheney told ABC News. “The committee will go wherever we need to go to get to the facts.”

Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges testifies during the opening hearing of the U.S. House (Select) Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 27, 2021.

Some of the officers also expressed incredulity at the continuing efforts, including from lawmakers who were present on Jan. 6, to downplay the attack.

“We were all fighting for our lives to give you guys a chance to go home to your families and escape,” Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell told the lawmakers, “and now the same people who we helped, the same people who we gave them the borrowed time to get to safety, now they are attacking us, they are attacking our characters.”

Gonell also described being crushed by a group of rioters pushing their way into the building.

“I could feel myself losing oxygen and recall thinking to myself, ‘This is how I’m going to die, defending this entrance,’” he said.

U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell looks down and covers his eyes during the House select committee hearing on the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 27, 2021.

The officers spoke after lawmakers on the panel called for more facts and accountability, including from the Trump White House.

Investigators must figure out “what happened every minute of that day in the White House — every phone call, every conversation, every meeting leading up to, during and after the attack,” said Cheney, one of two Republicans on the nine-member panel.

“Honorable men and women have an obligation to step forward. If those responsible are not held accountable, and if Congress does not act responsibly, this will remain a cancer on our constitutional republic, undermining the peaceful transfer of power at the heart of our democratic system,” Cheney said.

U.S. Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) listens to testimony from Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges recall how he was assaulted during the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, during the opening hearing of the U.S. House (Select) Committee investigating the attack on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 27, 2021.

Before the mob broke into the Capitol, Trump held a rally outside the White House and heaped pressure on Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence, to challenge key states’ Electoral College results. He exhorted the crowd to march to the Capitol, telling them, “If you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

As throngs of rioters broke through lines of law enforcement officers and streamed into the Capitol, Trump initially lashed out at Pence on Twitter for refusing to reject electoral votes. Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done,” Trump tweeted.

He later posted a video urging the attempted insurrectionists to go home, adding, “We love you. You’re very special.”

The House committee, whose members were all appointed by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was created after Senate Republicans voted down an independent, “9/11-style” commission to study the invasion.

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger gets emotional as he speaks during a hearing by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 27, 2021.

Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, both vocal critics of Trump in the wake of Jan. 6, are the only Republicans on the panel. House Republicans voted to strip Cheney of her House leadership role after she refused to stop criticizing Trump for spreading the lie that the 2020 election was rigged to favor President Joe Biden.
McCarthy submitted five Republicans to be added to the select committee, but withdrew all their names after Pelosi rejected two of his picks. One of those rejects, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, may be a material witness in the probe, Cheney said last week.

In opening minutes of the hearing, Thompson played a video that spliced together footage from in and around the Capitol during the siege. The video showed rioters attacking police, shooting sprays and throwing objects, breaking windows and other property, threatening lawmakers by name and calling for the election results to be reversed.

Some of the officers looked away from the video as it played.

In his closing remarks, Dunn likened the insurrectionists to hired killers.

“If a hitman is hired and he kills somebody, the hitman goes to jail. But not only does the hitman go to jail, but the person who hired them does. It was an attack carried out on Jan. 6 and a hitman sent them. I want you to get to the bottom of that.”

That is the point, you are looking at some superficial stuff your News has fed you and frankly the right wing has never fully understood psychiatry nearly as well as the left-wing beyond the fact that pure Socialists don't tend to understand the need for human ego to get selfish reward for a job well done (at least in some capacity).

I will give you a chance to pull your head out of your right-wing echo chamber and read some news that may open your eyes, read all of the quoted text or don't. I do not care either way.

I’ve read all of that. You’re acting as if I don’t. But I want to hear you admit that GF Riots were far more violent and destructive in a couple minutes than J6 was the entire day. 

Is that your solution? Really you're playing the 'left wing source' to deny the facts and witness testimony as valid? Do you not think by now they'd have been sued for the lies if they are lies? They are literally naming police officers and official people at the event giving their testimony, any one could sue them for several thousand dollars if it defamed them.

I can admit the scale was larger, so much larger than the minority that got so severely violent and riot-prone were significantly such and that is primarily because thugs and antifa hijacked the riots. One of the shoplifters was Jake Paul, a famous white youtuber.

Facts would say that far more cops should commit suicide in the time after GF Riots. Point me to them please. As far as I know, you can’t read the mind of a dead person.

No, this is the point. There was something deeply traumatising about the Capitol Riots that has shaken many, not just the 4 that committed suicide. It was domestic terrorism to force an agenda (which ironically I have said elsewhere that is a whole problem with the 2nd Amendment's pitting of people against government in a violent sense). 

Do you believe or not believe that the US requires a violent coup in order to achieve optimal respect and decent treatment of its populace? If your answer is no, you automatically should oppose the Capitol Riots unless you believe that unnecessary violence with completely non-consenting victims that costs state-paid law enforcement's time and effort, ends up resulting in 1 directly dying and 4 committing suicide and mentally scarring others and buildings paid by tax money being damaged, requiring taxes to need to increase to cover it.

It is simple, you're trying to constantly point a finger elsewhere. The riots surrounding George Floyd had majority peaceful protests, it was entirely nationwide in US, the minority that got aggressive and violent other than statue-removals, were thugs hijacking the 'cause' for a thrill.

In the end, you can choose your narrative, I do not particularly care what you say or think.

GF Riots were more traumatizing. But who cares about that right? When the everyday American gets hurt it doesn’t matter, but when politicians are threatened, there’s an outroar. They work for us, not the other way around.

you were a politician you shouldn't be justified to receive abuse because you work 'for' the abusers, that's not really how it works.

Oh! that just applies to Trump. OK

He posed as a defender of the white American,

then posed as anything but when called out on it and ended up nothing but a scumbag sore loser who incited a violent insurrection

and did all sorts of shit verbal and even physical in Iraqi soil (to an Iranian general) to make the US on the verge of actual serious war with North Korea, Iran so on and so forth.

Everyone talks about Biden but Trump would have been even more spineless most likely, since he's owned by Putin but let's not go into that right? (I know what you will reply to this, I am ready to respond what I did before).

Everyone talks about Biden but Trump would have been even more spineless most likely, since he's owned by Putin but let's not go into that right? (I know what you will reply to this, I am ready to respond what I did before).

Putin owns Trump so much that he decided to wait until Biden was in office to invade Ukraine. Trump is on Putin’s payroll but waits until Biden gets in office to take Ukraine #Logic

1. The invasion forces Biden to either look like a war hawk or be a coward, both which can swing him into defeat next election cycle as it's gonna be close just like the prior election was and some people vote irrationally and will ignore all the good the Dems have since his instatement for that.
   
2. If you own Trump, there is absolutely no reason at all to put him in a predicament where he has to drive gas prices up, make Russia threaten the US with nuclear attack not even subliminally and be either a war hawk or a spineless coward.
   

Simple. Didn't think that one through.

Here's a simple question for you... One thing we already knew but became crystal clear during these hearings is that while the US capitol was being broken into after capitol police were beaten into submission and congress was forced to stop certifying the election results and evacuate the building... The president of the United States did absolutely nothing. Not one phone call to the secretary of defense, the DOJ, any of the state governors who had the national guard on stand by... No one. What are your thoughts on this?

Here get your brownie points for being an ethnic Indian Trump supporter. If that pun offends you, Trump should have long ago, I posted it to entertain you as you seem to only be here for a laugh.

I will now try to reiterate exactly what I stated when the war had not even officially begun.

The invasion forces Biden to either look like a war hawk or be a coward, both which can swing him into defeat next election cycle as it's gonna be close just like the prior election was and some people vote irrationally and will ignore all the good the Dems have since his instatement for that.

If you own Trump, there is absolutely no reason at all to put him in a predicament where he has to drive gas prices up, make Russia threaten the US with nuclear attack not even subliminally and be either a war hawk or a spineless coward.

Simple. Didn't think that one through.

No sanctions and you get Ukraine. Didn’t think that one through did ya?

Yes, your explanation is because he was delusional enough to think he won the state, which I acknowledged and explained why that is completely irrelevant.

Again, if Trump actually cared about the integrity of the count he would have demanded a full recount with provisions in place to make sure *all* votes were counted properly. He didn't, because he didn't give a shit about the accuracy of the count. His only concern is that they "find" enough votes for him to win. There is a phrase for that, it's called corrupt intent. Why is this so complicated?

This is the kind of response that demonstrates how unserious and how much of a partisan hack you are. You know damn well that no one was out there protesting because Maxine Waters told them to.

Comparing J6 to the summer riots is just  plain stupid because the concerns regarding them are entirely different. This is yet another whataboutism from Trumpers who are so wrapped up in their MAGA self identity that they can't stop for a second and use basic logic or common sense.

Again, the rioting that occurred that summer was mostly opportunism by people who couldn't care less about the issue the protesters were out there protesting. And in many cases it has been proven that the vandals were right wingers pretending to be protesting in order to rile people up against BLM.

As far as the anger that feuled all this, that originated from videos of cops being filmed in broad daylight, and those videos circulating through social media. In other words, it was a result of civil unrest. No one was instructing the rioters, they saw the videos with their own eyes and drew their own conclusions. It only became political after it started happening.

Contrast that with J6, where the rioters took over the US Capitol forcing congress to stop the certification of a presidential election and evacuate the building. Those rioters were not grass roots civil disobedience, they were there because the president of the United States summoned them there after spending months lying to them about a stolen election that everyone around him knew was complete bullshit the entire time.

Unlike the summer riots, J6 was entirely manufactured by the person we as a nation trusted to protect and defend the constitution.

These are entirely different issues. One is the culmination of decades of tension between different ethnic groups within our society. The other was the culmination of months of a president doing everything he can to maintain power despite being voted out of office by the people. Do you understand that?

Even if you had the evidence, most of the courts dismissed it on procedural grounds like lack of standing.

Again, that’s how it works. Wisconsin has 10 electoral votes. GOP nominates 10 people and Dems nominate 10 people. Both go to DC. Congress chooses which are the “legitimate” ones.

You’re implying that it’s somehow subverting democracy, yet you do not condemn the Democrats for it. I’m showing the hypocrisy of the Democrats and yourself.

Would you like to take back your statement now? There were thousands of illegal ones, but he’s telling Brad you just have to find the margin he lost by lol, which is not hard.

No the ECA is. And who determines Constitutionality? SCOTUS.

I could say the same for the Kavanaugh killer. That was an insurrection. Gimme a break.

One getting more attention is unjust. One group of protestors getting far harsher penalties for doing less is unjust.

Where is the committee to investigate that?

Mark my words though: nothing is going to happen. Everyone will forget it in a year.

To the contrary. It’s a win win situation. No sanctions and you get Ukraine. Didn’t think that one through did ya?

No it really is not. If you actually think it works as simple as you say, that the teams are as in your face as you say, you are just a naive fool.

Barely anything in high level geopolitics is as it immediately seems, deception is the name of the game. 

Are you sure about that?

Take a look at the Democrats “voting rights” bill. Hell, they want to legalize every illegal immigrant in the nation.

And where are Joe Biden and the Democrats and you when some guy was caught tryin to assassinate Kavanaugh? Is that not a threat to democracy?

Is looting and rioting and not being punished for it not a threat to democracy.

Half the country will never give up their guns lol. But that’s not going to stop them. 

The damage has already been done. There are thousands already here. Letting random people into our nation surely isn’t a threat to democracy.

Then maybe Democrats shouldn’t have used dubious election methods that they want to nationalize. What does it say about our democracy that counties “find” ballots a day or two after Election Day. 

If that “chunk” of the country wanted to get its way, it already would’ve.