The pardons the current administration granted last month to everyone involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 riots in Washington, D.C. are an attempt to whitewash the criminal, insurrectionist actions undertaken by those trying to stop the certification of the 2020 election results, but luckily, there are searing accounts like those of survivors such as Capitol Officer Aquilino Gonell that tell the blistering reality about that day. Gonell, an immigrant to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic, has spent decades in service to this country, first as a sergeant in the military, and then police force.
The gripping, moving memoir American Shield: The Immigrant Sergeant Who Defended Democracy, written by Gonell and Susan Shapiro (Lighting Up; The Foregiveness Tour) is a chronicle of his family’s immigrant experience, his years dedicated to trying to make a difference, the vicious attacks on Gonell and his fellow officers four years ago, and the aftermath of that day. Gonell continues to recover from the injuries he sustained and shares his story of determination, resilience and truth telling. The authors spoke about the creative process, catharsis and getting introduced to luminaries like Robert De Niro.
Shani R. Friedman: How did the two of you meet and how did American Shield come about?
Aquilino Gonell: After my Congressional testimony, several people suggested I write a book proposal. I didn’t have the money [for that] as I was not working while I recovered from my injuries. I met Olivia Troye, an aid to Vice President Mike Pence, who introduced me to literary agent Meg Thompson. She connected me with Susan, a client at her agency.
Susan Shapiro: I’d read Congressman Raskin’s profound bestseller about Jan. 6, Unthinkable. So I was intrigued. But when I met the sergeant, I asked him how his account would be different from Raskin’s and other Jan. 6 police officer’s books already in the works. He told me his would be the only book about how an immigrant of color was protecting our Democracy against American-born white nationalists trying to stop the peaceful transfer of power. As a long-time left-wing journalist, I was all in. [Also] he’s not a writer and English wasn’t his first language, so he needed a co-author.
SRF: What was it like for you two – one a female, Jewish, accomplished author in New York City, and the other a man, immigrant and public servant with a life that was a 180 from hers – to collaborate?
SS: I’ve loved writing provocative first person books my family hates, like Five Men Who Broke My Heart. But my agent thought of me for American Shield because I’d coauthored four books. The Sergeant read The Bosnia List, which I’d written with Kenan Trebincevic, a Bosnian Muslim who’d survived the Balkan war. [They’re] the same age and Kenan came to America in 1993, the same year [Gonell] emigrated from the Dominican Republic. Sarge saw we shared the same political sensibility, and that I’d be sensitive in depicting the struggles of a younger, foreign-born male new to this country in an engaging way.
AG: For the beginning chapters, I couldn’t keep up. I was still dealing with my injuries: physical, mental and moral. I was also doing police work: investigations, reviewing videos/photos and interviews related to those who assaulted me and my colleagues. Initially I was overwhelmed, but my psychiatrist advised me to use writing to work through my post-traumatic stress. Susan and I figured out ways it would be easier for me: sometimes I’d go slow, email her thoughts I’d scrawled down or we’d talk about lighter stuff, like my mother’s Dominican food.
SRF: Susan, why was it important to you to tell his story?
SS: [Gonell] was upset that lots of other dishonest, untrustworthy people – Republicans and corrupt, right-wing journalists – had been spreading lies and misinformation about him and what really happened with the dangerous rioters that day. Maybe we both naively thought it would ruin Trump’s chances for re-election. At least we had the power to put the truth out there.
SRF: How did Congressman Raskin come to write the foreword for your book?
AG: After I testified to the U.S. House Congressional Select Committee, he told me to let him know if I needed anything. He was very supportive and sensitive to what I’d been through. When I asked if he could write the foreword, he said “absolutely.” I was honored to do events with him. He went through a lot too. To me, he’s a hero.
SS: Raskin understood how hard it was for the Sarge and the three other officers to come forward, and what he was risking, like alienating [his] police department, inciting Trump’s wrath and putting his family in jeopardy. [Raskin] did a beautiful job and we did an amazing D.C. book talk together. Raskin is a famous mensch.
SRF: Would you say audiences and readers are Democrats, Republicans or a mix?
SS: More Democrats, though I think there was the illusion it could be non-partisan and non-divisive. Our original title was “American Treason,” which [the publishers] asked us to change. We tried “American Treachery” and suggested a cover of Sarge in his police uniform, looking traumatized and crying at the January 6th hearing while recounting the violence he’d experienced. They preferred “American Shield” with a cover photo of Sarge as a 19-year-old solider who’d just joined the Army. They also wanted to cut down the anti-Trump rhetoric in Congressman Raskin’s foreword but we refused, asking “Are you afraid to alienate Republicans who won’t buy the book anyway?”
AG: I’d say more Democrats and Independents, with some Republicans who rejected what happened on Jan. 6. However, the book isn’t just about that day. It’s about speaking truth to power and doing the right thing, even when it hurts the country I love.
SRF: How has the recovery process from the attack been?
AG: After four years, the physical wounds healed the best they could. I’m not as emotional when talking about that day as I was before. However, the scars won’t go away, especially since Trump was re-elected and continues to lie about [those] who attacked the Capitol. His propaganda triggers the moral injury felt by the officers who defended the Capitol. We risked our lives protecting everyone during the violent assault. Trump’s pardoning feels like a betrayal, a desecration of the sacrifices we made. Instead of siding with the officers and the law, he took the side of dangerous criminals who did his bidding.
SRF: What has being a published author been like for you?
AG: When I read the completed draft, I cried. I couldn’t believe that I was holding and reading my life story. I was amazed at how Susan had taken the most interesting parts of my life and pieced them together so beautifully. Then it hit me: I’d been to Hell and back. I was moved to receive standing ovations at events and five-star reviews. It was exciting to meet celebrities, politicians and regular people who thanked me.
SRF: Any memorable moments while you were doing events for the book?
SS: When we launched the book in L.A., Sarge stayed with Jeffrey Sherman, a producer on the movie version of American Shield. His wife, Wendy Liebman, is a stand-up comic who took Sarge to a big comedy club benefit the night before our reading at The Grove Barnes & Noble. He kept sending me pictures of himself with Paul Reiser, Larry David, Jay Leno and Kathy Griffin, all holding up copies of the book, which I kept posting. It wound up looking splashy, like they all came to the reading.
SRF: I was watching The Late Show With Stephen Colbert last week and when asked who were heroes to him, guest Robert De Niro told Colbert, “the Capitol police” and mentioned Officer Gonell (and the others) by name. Do you think of him and the officers as heroic?
SS: Yes, from the start I thought he was a hero. We actually met Robert De Niro at an event for Justice Matters, former prosecutor and TV legal eagle Glenn Kirchner’s group. They asked the Sarge to give a speech. It was exciting.
SRF: What does that mean to you that someone on national television says that you’re a hero? Do you think of yourself and the other officers as heroic (I certainly think you should!)?
AG: I was humbled to be called a hero and placed among names like Nelson Mandela. I was simply doing my job and fulfilling my oath on Jan. 6. I’m proud of my actions, but I didn’t do it for praise. I’d rather have my health and peace of mind back. History will be the judge of everything that happened. In the meantime, being called a hero doesn’t pay my bills and I need to provide for my family.
SRF: Susan, what’s next for you?
SS: I recently finished press for my last memoir The Forgiveness Tour. I’m now working on an essay collection of my own, and another co-authored book. My Zoom writing classes are soaring. Turns out people all over the world want to learn how to publish from a fast-talking New Yorker.
SRF: Now that you’ve left the police force, what do you see the next chapter of your life looking like?
AG: I want to be a good husband, father and advocate for justice, fighting for my colleagues and being a voice of hope. I want to help others heal. I’m [fighting] to get the Dominican Republic government to build an asphalt road to Los Limones, where I grew up. It’s badly needed. And I’m working on a children’s book about what it was like coming to America when I was 12. As Susan says, writing is a way to turn your worst experiences into the most beautiful.
SRF: What would you like people to take away from American Shield?
SS: I shared a line with the Sarge that my therapist once told me, about how “most people do the wrong thing because doing the right thing hurts.”
AG: We saved your elected officials: Republicans and Democrats. All those elected officials are alive today because of police officers like me and my colleagues who protected them from the mob.
American Shield: The Immigrant Sergeant Who Defended Democracy is available now in English and also in a Spanish translation.
