WASHINGTON ― Former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn says the danger of another Jan. 6-type event occurring is very real, and that is why he has been compelled to trade in his uniform and run for Congress.
“It exposed how fragile this democracy is, how willing elected officials in the MAGA world are to lie, downplay and pretend what we went through wasn’t real,” Dunn told HuffPost in an interview on Monday after the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
“Frankly, I believe it can happen again,” he warned.
J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press
Dunn, 40, announced his candidacy over the weekend after leaving the Capitol police force late last year, ending a 15-year career protecting Congress, including from a violent mob of Donald Trump supporters that hurled racist slurs at him during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Dunn reflected on having to protect Republican members of Congress who have dismissed the Jan. 6 attack as a hoax, saying that although it was “tough personally,” it didn’t stop him from doing his duty.
“Whether they believe it or not, they have a right to believe it. It was my job to protect them,” Dunn said.
He added that “having a seat at the table” in Congress would mean that he “can’t be dismissed as just an angry police officer” and that those still pushing Trump’s “big lie” about a stolen election couldn’t easily discount him in the hallways.
Conspiracy theories about Jan. 6 remain prevalent in the Republican Party more than three years after the attack, with GOP lawmakers and even some presidential contenders falsely calling the riot an “inside job.” A recent Washington Post-University of Maryland poll also found that 34% of Republicans believe the FBI was somehow in on the insurrection, despite testimony from FBI Director Chris Wray saying otherwise.
Over the weekend, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a member of House GOP leadership, even referred to people who were convicted of charges relating to Jan. 6 as “hostages,” echoing Trump’s rhetoric in defending those who stormed the Capitol building while Congress met to certify the Electoral College count.
“It’s par for the course. I’m not surprised she said it because Donald Trump said it,” Dunn said in response to Stefanik’s comments.
Dunn is running in the crowded primary to succeed retiring Democratic Rep. John Sarbanes. The winner of the primary would be the favorite to clinch election in the heavily Democratic district.
In his announcement video, which features a reenactment of Jan. 6 with a “Make America great again” flag in the background, Dunn vowed to prevent a Jan. 6-like attack from happening again.
“We can’t ever let this happen again, and you’ve heard it from Trump himself: He is hellbent on finishing what he started this day,” Dunn says in the video. “I believe every one of us has a role to play in this fight.”