Capitol Police sergeant posts images of his January 6 riot injuries after Marjorie Taylor Greene calls herself a 'victim' of the attack

• Greene said she was a January 6, 2021, victim during a hearing on disqualifying her from the ballot.
• In response, Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell posted photos of his injuries from that day.

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is facing criticism from a member of the Capitol Police who protected members of Congress on January 6, 2021, after she said she was a victim of the riot at a hearing on Friday.

Greene is facing a challenge from Free Speech for the People, which is seeking to remove her name from the ballot in Georgia under Article 3, Section 14, of the Constitution. The group says Greene has violated that provision — which states "no person" who's taken an oath and served as a member of Congress "shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion" — and that she is supportive of the events of January 6.

Seeking to contradict that notion, Greene was briefly questioned by her lawyer, James Bopp, about her understanding of the events of that day.

"Were you affected by the attack?" Bopp asked.

"Yes, I was," Greene said. "I was in the House chamber when it happened. I had to be evacuated to safety. We were held for hours in a secret location protected by Capitol Police, military members, for hours until they cleared the Capitol."

She added: "Yes, I was a victim of the riot that day."

Previously, Greene had testified that she "very scared," "concerned," and "shocked" by the threat of violence that day and thought that Black Lives Matter- and antifa-affiliated protesters were causing the violence.

—CSPAN (@cspan) April 22, 2022

Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, among the more outspoken members of the Capitol Police, responded on Twitter, posting graphic photos of some of the injuries he sustained that day.

"Here are her injuries," he wrote. "Wait, those are mines."

—Staff Sergeant Gonell, Aquilino (@SergeantAqGo) April 22, 2022

At least one video from January 6 shows Greene laughing and smiling with other Republican members of Congress while they wait in a secure location. Democratic Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware is seen in the video attempting to provide Greene and other Republicans with masks but is rebuffed.

Gonell previously testified before the January 6 House committee in the summer alongside other officers. He spoke about the lasting trauma he'd experienced as the result of the riot.

He has also said he believes some of the rioters' sentences aren't harsh enough and criticized former Vice President Mike Pence for downplaying the attack.

"We did everything possible to prevent him from being hanged and killed in front of his daughter and his wife," Gonell told NPR. "And now he's telling us that that one day in January doesn't mean anything. It's pathetic. It's a disgrace."

Greene had previously sought to block the hearing from happening, but a federal judge in Georgia ruled on Monday that the challenge could go forward. She is the first member of Congress to testify under oath about the events of January 6, 2021.