Former U.S. Capitol Sgt. Aquilino Gonell was beaten with a flag pole waving an American flag, bitten, punched and struck with his own baton while fighting off a mob on January 6, 2021. Gonell, among dozens of officers injured in the assault, struggled to breathe under the weight of rioters crushing him. Doctors later installed screws and a metal plate to hold his foot together.
However, everyone involved in the attack received a pardon from President Donald Trump, and the Department of Justice on Tuesday moved to toss out the remaining cases — and most serious convictions — to finish off what the president started on his first day in office.
