Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. – The presidency of the Dominican Republic congratulated Dominican-born sergeant Aquilino Gonell, whom President Joe Biden awarded the nation’s second highest civilian award for his defense of the Capitol during the 2021 attack by a group of supporters of former President Donald Trump.
Gonell, a veteran of the US army and with over 16 years in the Capitol police, said in an interview that he had never witnessed an event of such magnitude, not even when he was in combat in Iraq.
He said that on that violent day, two years ago, he was just doing his job. “What we did wasn’t for a medal. We did the work we had to do because it was our duty to do it, no matter who we were protecting,” he declared.
