U.S. Capitol Police and the officers of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department were the Congressional Gold Medal awardees for 2021, in recognition of their defense of the U.S. Capitol. Dunn was wearing his on a necklace during his Club visit. Dunn also testified before the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol.
US Capitol Police officer who faced Jan. 6 mob has stayed on job and 'in this fight'
Reflecting on how the crowd of demonstrators massing on the National Mall in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, was brought under control after it surged onto the U.S. Capitol grounds and broke into the Capitol building, a U.S. Capitol Police officer who was on duty that day found a metaphor. “We got control when more people showed up,” Officer Harry Dunn said. “We got reinforcements .... More people showed up and the good guys won. That’s the way I look at it about this country. More people have got to show up, and the good guys will win.”
Dunn visited the National Press Club Oct. 26 for a Headliners Breakfast event to talk about his memoir, “Standing My Ground: A Capitol Police Officer’s Fight for Accountability and Good Trouble After January 6th.” He experiences post-traumatic stress and powers through the difficult circumstance of having a duty to protect politicians who deny that the unruly mob he worked in the midst of that January day two years ago was attacking the halls of Congress, he said. Yet he refuses to give up on his job.
“I want to inspire people. I want to show resiliency. When you quit, that’s what they want you to do,” Dunn explained. “I’m staying in this fight.”
Dunn said he has appreciated the actions of Republican former Reps. Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and Peter Meijer, who, despite having political views he disagrees with, have condemned the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and attempted to hold former President Donald Trump accountable for his role in it. Dunn remains in touch with Kinzinger. “We talk often,” he said. Other politicians have shown less integrity, Dunn said. He described how a fearful and emotional former congressman and Trump supporter embraced him in the Capitol rotunda on Jan. 6 “after all the chaos was expelled.” Yet within the next few weeks, Dunn said, that same congressman sided with Trump and sported a MAGA hat. “That hurt me,” Dunn said.
Asked whether he finds it difficult to continue in his job, Dunn stressed that the power “rests with individuals” to bring about positive change in society. “I believe in public service,” he said. “After Jan. 6, I feel like it is a duty.”
When asked whether he believes “the system” is working, Dunn replied, “I do believe that it’s working. The institutions work if we have safeguards, and the safeguards are the American people.”
U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn (l) and Jeff Ballou on Oct. 26. Photo: Noël-Marie Fletcher
Moderator Jeff Ballou, an ABC News producer and former NPC president, challenged Dunn about his contention that the Jan. 6 incident was not a racist act. Dunn said that his opinion takes into account the fact that his white Capitol Police co-workers also were violently beaten that day. “That’s why I don’t think it was a racist-fueled act. There were racists there. A lot of them. But the premise of that day was entitlement,” he declared.
Dunn explained that the attack on the Capitol “doesn’t make me want to run away from the challenge.” He said it strengthened his resolve to keep doing his job and set a good example for others. “My mission is to seek out accountability, and accountability is to prevent people from doing things again. Until we have had that — which we have not yet — at the top, what’s to stop it from happening again?”