The House select committee investigating the January 6 riots had its first hearing Tuesday.
Multiple officers who were present during the attacks gave testimonies in front of the panel, noting the violence they faced that day.
Among those testifying was Capitol police officer Harry Dunn who compared the rioters to a hitman hired to kill someone.
If a hit man is hired and he kills somebody, the hit man goes to jail. But not only does the hit man go to jail, but the person who hired them does. It was an attack carried out on Jan. 6 and a hit man sent them. I want you to get to the bottom of that.
Harry Dunn
Dunn also recalled a group of Trump supporters who approached him that day. He claims he was met with “racial epithets” after telling them to leave the building. One rioter told Dunn that Trump invited them to the Capitol, adding that Joe Biden was not the president.
After admitting that he voted for Biden, Dunn was allegedly met with more offensive, racist remarks.
One woman in a pink ‘MAGA’ shirt yelled, ‘You hear that, guys, this n***** voted for Joe Biden!’ Then the crowd, perhaps around 20 people, joined in, screaming ‘Boo! F*****g n*****!’ No one had ever – ever – called me a ‘n*****’ while wearing the uniform of a Capitol Police officer.
Harry Dunn
Dunn explained that he was not the only one who experienced this, as one of his fellow officers was supposedly told “Put your gun down, and we’ll show you what kind of n***** you really are!”.
Many blame Trump for the violent riots, despite his efforts to encourage peaceful protest. “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard”, said Trump before the riots on January 6. It is argued that his message was not actually a call to violence and lawlessness.