CLAIM: Former United States Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell claimed that “five officers” were killed “as a result” of the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
VERDICT: Mostly false. No police officers died on January 6. One died of natural causes the day after, and four took their own lives later that same year.
During his speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Wednesday, Gonell claimed that he “nearly died” while protecting the Capitol from rioters in 2021, and that “five officers” had “died as a result of January 6.”
“Before I begin, I need to acknowledge the sacrifices that five officers, who died as a result of January 6, made on that day,” Gonell told the crowd. “My name is Aquilino Gonell. I immigrated to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic when I was 12. I became an American citizen, I was a sergeant in the U.S. Army and a Capitol police officer, and I’ve seen violence while serving in Iraq. But, nothing, nothing prepared me for January 6.”
Aquilino Gonell's full speech: "I was a sergeant in the US Army and a Capitol police officer. I had seen violence while serving in Iraq. But nothing, NOTHING, prepared me for January 6." pic.twitter.com/IM6irjKv9N
— Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) August 22, 2024
“We officers risk everything to protect innocent people,” Gonell continued. “We were beaten and blinded. I was assaulted with a pole attached to the American flag. President Trump summoned our attackers, incited with them. He betrayed us. When I joined the Army and Capitol Police, I took an oath to defend the Constitution. I did so with duty in my soul and I still feel it. To Donald Trump, I ask, why don’t you? On January 6, I nearly died protecting the Capitol, and I would do it again for our democracy.”
As Breitbart News has previously reported, Democrats such as President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland have stated that five Capitol Police officers died while defending the Capitol from rioters on Jan. 6. However, none of the officers were killed during the violence.
One of the U.S. Capitol Police Officers, Brian Sicknick, ended up dying a day after the riot. However, a medical examiner later revealed that Sicknick had died from natural causes: “two strokes at the base of the brain stem caused by a clot in an artery that supplies blood to that area of the body,” according to the Washington Post.
As Breitbart News previously reported, “four Capitol Police and Washington Metropolitan Police Officers” who had responded to the January 6 riot, died from “suicide”:
In the weeks after the attacks, four Capitol Police and Washington Metropolitan Police Officers died by suicide. The Capitol Police officer’s union has said about 140 officers were injured during the protests.
The death of Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith, who died by suicide, was ruled as a line-of-duty death, according to NBC News. This allowed Smith’s widow to be eligible to receive survivor benefits.
In November 2022, the Department of Justice classified Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood’s suicide as being eligible for line-of-duty benefits, according to the New York Times.
Two other officers, Gunther Hashida and Kyle DeFreytag, who had responded to the January 6 riots, were reported to have died by suicide in July 2021, according to CNN.
One person, Air Force veteran and Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, was killed as a result of the January 6 riots, after being shot by a Capitol Police officer.
