WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� As Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, former Capitol Police Sgt. put his phone on 鈥渄o not disturb鈥� and left it on his nightstand to take a break from the news.
That evening, after Gonell spent time with family and took his dog on a long walk, his phone started to blow up with calls. He had messages from federal prosecutors, FBI agents and the federal Bureau of Prisons 鈥� all letting him know that the new president had just who had been convicted for their actions at the Capitol on . The pardons included rioters who had injured Gonell as he and other officers tried to protect the building.
鈥淭hey told me that people I testified against were being released from prison,鈥� Gonell said. 鈥淎nd to be mindful.鈥�
Gonell was one of the officers who that day as Congress was certifying Democrat Joe Biden鈥檚 victory and hundreds of Trump鈥檚 supporters , echoing his false claims of a stolen election. Gonell was dragged into the crowd by his shoulder straps as he tried to fight people off. He almost suffocated. In court, he to his shoulder and foot that still bother him to this day.
鈥淭hey have tried to erase what I did鈥� with the pardons and other attempts to play down the violent attack, Gonell said. 鈥淚 lost my career, my health, and I鈥檝e been trying to get my life back.鈥�
Five years since the siege, Gonell and some of the other police officers who fought off the rioters are still coming to terms with what happened, especially after Trump was decisively elected to a second term last year and granted those pardons. Their struggle has been compounded by statements from the Republican president and some GOP lawmakers in Congress that the officers encountered.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a difficult year,鈥� said Officer Daniel Hodges, a Metropolitan Police Department officer who was also injured as he fought near Gonell in a tunnel on the West Front. Hodges was attacked several times, crushed by the rioters between heavy doors and beaten in the head as he screamed for help.
鈥淎 lot of things are getting worse,鈥� Hodges said.
An evolving narrative
More than 140 police officers were injured during the fighting on Jan. 6, which turned increasingly brutal as the hours wore on.
Former Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger took over the department six months after the riot. He said in a recent interview that many of his officers were angry when he first arrived, not only because of injuries they suffered but also 鈥渢hey resented the fact that they 鈥� to deal with the unexpectedly violent crowd.
Several officers who fought the rioters told The Associated Press that the hardest thing to deal with has been the effort by many to , despite a documenting the carnage.
Trump has called the rioters he pardoned, including those who were most violent toward the police, 鈥減atriots鈥� and 鈥渉ostages.鈥� He called their convictions for harming the officers and breaking into the building 鈥渁 grave national injustice.鈥�
鈥淚 think that was wrong,鈥� Adam Eveland, a former District of Columbia police officer, said of Trump鈥檚 pardons. If there were to be pardons, Eveland said, Trump’s administration should have reviewed every case.
鈥淚鈥檝e had a hard time processing that,鈥� said Eveland, who fought the rioters and helped to push them off the Capitol grounds.
The pardons 鈥渆rased what little justice there was,鈥� said former Capitol Police Officer Winston Pingeon, who was part of the force鈥檚 Civil Disturbance Unit on Jan. 6. He left the force several months afterward.
Pushback from lawmakers and the public
Hodges and Gonell have been speaking out about their experiences since July 2021, when they before the Democratic-led House committee that investigated Jan 6. Since then, they have received support but also backlash.
At a Republican-led Senate hearing in October on political violence, Hodges testified again as a witness called by Democrats. After Hodges spoke about his experience on Jan. 6, Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., asked the other witnesses whether they supported Trump鈥檚 pardons of the rioters, including for those who injured Hodges. Three of the witnesses, all called by Republicans, raised their hands.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how you would say it wasn鈥檛 violent,鈥� says Hodges, who is still a Washington police officer.
It has not just been politicians or the rioters who have doubted the police. It also is friends and family.
鈥淢y biggest struggle through the years has been the public perception of it,鈥� Eveland said, and navigating conversations with people close to him, including some fellow police officers, who do not think it was a big deal.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard for me to wrap my head around that, but ideology is a pretty powerful thing,鈥� he said.
Improvements in safety and support
As police officers struggled in the aftermath, Manger, the former Capitol Police chief, said the department had to figure out how to better support them. There were no wellness or counseling services when he arrived, he said, and they were put in to place.
鈥淭he officers who were there and were in the fight 鈥� we needed to make sure that they got the help that they needed,鈥� Manger said.
Manger, who retired in May, also oversaw major improvements to the department鈥檚 training, equipment, operational planning and intelligence. He said the Capitol is now 鈥渁 great deal safer鈥� than it was when he arrived.
鈥淚f that exact same thing happened again, they would have never breached the building, they would have never gotten inside, they would have never disrupted the electoral count,鈥� Manger said.
Pingeon, the former Capitol Police officer, said he believes the department is in many ways 鈥渦nrecognizable鈥� from what it was on Jan. 6 and when he left several months later.
鈥淚t was a wake-up call,鈥� he said.
Pressing on
Pingeon, who was attacked and knocked to the ground as he tried to prevent people from entering the Capitol, said Jan. 6 was part of the reason he left the department and moved home to Massachusetts. He has dealt with his experience by painting images of the Capitol and his time there, as well as advocating for nonviolence. He said he now feels ready to forgive.
鈥淭he real trauma and heartache and everything I endured because of these events, I want to move past it,鈥� he said.
Gonell left the Capitol Police because of his injuries. He has not returned to service, though he hopes to work again. He wrote a book about his experience, and he said he still has post-traumatic stress disorder related to the attack.
While many of the officers who were there have stayed quiet about their experiences, Eveland said he decided that it was important to talk publicly about Jan. 6 to try to reach people and 鈥渃ome at it from a logical standpoint.鈥�
Still, he said, 鈥淚鈥檝e had to come to terms with the fact that just because something happened to me and was a major part of my world doesn鈥檛 mean that everyone else has to understand that or even be sympathetic to that.鈥�
He added: 鈥淭he only thing I can do is tell my story, and hopefully the people who respect me will eventually listen.鈥�
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