A former Capitol police sergeant on the personal and political consequences of Jan. 6
On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti
WBUR
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 8 January 2024
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sgt. Aquilino Gonell left the Dominican Republic at 12 years old in pursuit of the American dream. On Jan. 6, 2021, that dream turned into a nightmare as Gonell was attacked and beaten by a violent mob as he sought to protect the Capitol.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If you care about the state of the world and want to set it on a better course, we have a solution that may be somewhat surprising. |
| 0:07.0 | Work in finance. At CFA Institute, our programs and courses are deeply rooted in ethical perspective, |
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| 0:25.1 | visit CFA Institute.org slash set the standard today. |
| 0:30.8 | I'm Anthony Brooks and this is on point. When he was 12 years old, |
| 0:34.8 | Akaolino Gonell left the Dominican Republic for the United States in pursuit of the |
| 0:39.4 | American dream. He moved to Brooklyn with his mom and brother. He didn't speak English well. He struggled to fit in. |
| 0:46.2 | And to help pay for college, he joined the Army Reserves, fought in Iraq, and became a U.S. citizen. |
| 0:53.0 | And in 2006, he fulfilled a lifelong dream and became a police officer at the U.S. Capitol. |
| 1:00.0 | Three years ago, on January 6, 2021, Sergeant Gonell's American dream became a nightmare. |
| 1:06.6 | Rioters spurred on by former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. capital to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election. |
| 1:15.0 | Gonell and his fellow officers were badly outnumbered. |
| 1:19.0 | The mob beat them with pipes, sticks, and rocks, sprayed them with chemicals as they tried to hold a line |
| 1:25.8 | and defend the capital and the peaceful transfer of power. |
| 1:29.4 | Because of his injury suffered that day, |
| 1:31.4 | Sergeant Gonell had to retire from his career as a police |
| 1:35.2 | officer at the age of 42. Now he's written a book about that day and about his life. |
| 1:40.7 | It's called American Shield, the immigrant sergeant who defended democracy. It's |
| 1:45.6 | co-written with Susan Shapiro. And Sergeant Gonell joins us now from Washington, D.C. |
| 1:52.1 | And Sergeant Gonell, welcome welcome back it's great to have you |
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