Jan. 6 inquiry opens with emotional testimony from officers – National & International News – TUE 27Jul2021

Jan. 6 inquiry opens with emotional testimony from officers. Final Miami condo victim identified. Tunisian president ousts prime minister, suspends democracy.

NATIONAL NEWS

Jan. 6 inquiry opens with emotional testimony from officers

For weeks, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress have been preparing for a Congressional inquiry into the events of the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. The formation of the panel itself stirred controversy last week when Pelosi rejected two Republican representatives that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had named to the panel.

The members Pelosi rejected were Reps. Jim Jordan (OH) and Jim Banks (IN). Both Jordan and Hood had previously made statements rejecting the legitimacy of the Nov. 2020 election and had voted against certifying the result of the vote on Jan. 6. Jordan in particular may be facing questions about his involvement in the attack. Fellow Republican Liz Cheney (WY) has said that Jordan may be a “material witness” to the lead-up to the events.

McCarthy, incensed at Pelosi’s decision, withdrew all 5 of his appointments to the committee. Now the panel consists of five Democratic representatives and two Republicans, namely Cheney and Adam Kinzinger (IL). Pelosi appointed all members of both parties. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi’s 2nd congressional district chairs the panel.

Opening day

After the drama leading up to the probe, it was certain that the first day would be intense. Four police officers gave emotional testimony this morning, recounting their experiences of Jan. 6. They were Harry Dunn and Aquilino Gonell of the Capitol Police, and Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department.

All four officers gave detailed and gut-wrenching accounts of persistent and vicious physical and verbal attacks from the rioters as they attempted to prevent a breach of the Capitol. Fanone described being swept into the crowd, being TASERed at the base of his skull multiple times. The attackers only relented when he pleaded, “I’ve got kids”. Fanone then lost consciousness for several minutes. Video from this incident was played during the proceedings.

Fanone also described rioters attempting to take his gun from him, with some yelling “Kill him with his own gun”.

Gonell, an Iraq war vet, said the fear and trauma of Jan. 6 surpassed anything he had experienced in Iraq.

Hodges and other officers he was standing with were pinned down and crushed trying to hold back a mob who was attempting to breach the basement of the Capitol. In the hallway behind him, several members of Congress were taking refuge.

Dunn, who is black, described enduring racial slurs from white supremacists. He hoped the committee would identify not only the attackers but those who led them there. Dunn said, “If a hitman is hired and he kills somebody, the hitman goes to jail. But not only does the hitman go to jail, but the person who hired them does. There was an attack carried out on January 6, and a hitman sent them. I want you to get to the bottom of that”.

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Final Miami condo victim identified

It has been a week since the end of the recovery mission at the site of the Surfside, FL, condo that collapsed on June 24. Now the family of the final victim who was still missing has announced that her remains have been found and identified. The victim was 54-year-old Estelle Hedaya of New York.

Hedaya’s identification brings the total victim count to 98. Initially, officials believed that as many as 159 people were missing in the collapse. Over the following weeks, police were able to narrow that number down after checking reports.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Tunisian president ousts prime minister, suspends democracy

It’s been over a decade since the Arab Spring toppled Tunisia’s long-standing dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Now, events this week may add the country to the list of democracies to fall this year.

Yesterday, Tunisian President Kais Saied dismissed Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi. Saied will now be “temporarily” ruling by decree. Today, Saied, with the support of the military, has suspended parliament, imposed a month-long curfew, and banned public gatherings.

Saied has used violent protests that broke out on Sunday to justify what critics are calling a coup. Protesters had gathered across the country, denouncing Mechichi’s handing of the pandemic and the economy.

Saied’s politics are populist but he is not part of any political party. He came to power on a promise to root out the corruption in the country. Ten years after the Arab Spring, nine successive governments have failed to solve persistent poverty, unemployment, and inflation. Many Tunisians hungry for any kind of change support Saied’s efforts.

However, Monica Marks, a professor of Arab studies at New York University in Abu Dhabi, fears that, “The so-called solution that President Kais Saied is posing right now threatens to kill the patient. To completely kill, in other words, democracy itself”.

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