The select committeeinvestigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitolis holding its first meeting Tuesday. Scheduled to testify are four police officers, two from the U.S. Capitol Police and two from the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department.
The four officers— Harry Dunn and Aquilino Gonell of the Capitol Police, and Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges of the Metropolitan Police — were all on duty on Jan. 6 and are testifying about the physical and verbal assaults they faced.
Gonell recounted the events of that day and the impact it has had on law enforcement officers: "For most people, Jan. 6 happened for a few hours," he said. "But for those of us who were in the thick of it, it has not ended."
Watch the hearing live below.
Editor's note: Video shown during the hearing may contain violence and profanity.
Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., gave impassioned opening remarks, describing the threat to democracy and blasting those who have dismissed the magnitude of what happened on Jan. 6:
"Some people are trying to deny what happened. To whitewash it. To turn the insurrectionists into martyrs.
"But the whole world saw the reality of what happened on Jan. 6. The hangman's gallows sitting out there on our [National] Mall. The flag of that first failed and disgraced rebellion against our union, being paraded through the Capitol. The hatred. The bigotry. The violence.
"And all of it: for a vile, vile lie. Let's be clear. The rioters who tried to rob us of our democracy were propelled here by a lie. As chairman of this Committee, I will not give that lie any fertile ground.
"We need to understand how and why the Big Lie festered. We need to know minute by minute how Jan. 6 unfolded. We need to understand how the rotten lie behind Jan. 6 has continued to spread and feed the forces that would undermine American democracy.
"And we need to figure out how to fix the damage."