This is just the beginning
Today was the start of testimony in the January sixth hearings. We heard from four heroes. These four are police officers, and all were there that awful day, fighting for their country with courage, dignity, and grace.
The testimony was deeply moving. They each spoke about the fear and the terror they experienced while fighting for both their own lives and the lives of the people they had pledged to serve. The testimony was stunning, poignant, horrific, and electrifying.
They all discussed how unprepared they were, how they had not been told to expect violence at this level. Many thought they would die that day. One officer, in a desperate plea, cried out, “I have kids,” to try to penetrate the maniacal frenzy of the mob.
They were called vile names. They were hit repeatedly and beaten, both with fists and with objects. They saved countless lives as they fought to keep the mob of terrorists under control. And they succeeded.
“You guys won,” an emotional Rep. Adam Kinzinger cried out to them in tears. And they said they would do it all over again. My friends, this is what true heroism looks like.
Officer Harry Dunn made a stunning analogy. If a hitman goes out to kill someone and is arrested, one does not arrest just the hitman. One also arrests the person who called on the hitman to go out in the first place. Very true.
I still think of the Manson family. As I said in a previous article–Manson never laid a hand on any of those victims. But he was no less a savage killer, as the courts ultimately decided.
To the Capitol police: You are the best, the most heroic among us. We honor you.
These heroic officers are surely the best examples of what JFK spoke about in his most famous quote: “And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country.”
This hearing is only the start of things. It was an emotional and deeply visceral day. We thank the January 6th panel and the courageous officers for speaking their truth.
