History Ripped from the Headlines! Standing My Ground by Harry Dunn: A Capitol Police Officer's Fight for Accountability and Good Trouble After January 6th Personal Experiences - Memoir

 They did this so they could get inside to attack our elected officials. They wanted to “Hang Mike Pence,” or “Drag that motherfucker through the streets.” Another said she and her friend “were looking for [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi to shoot her in the friggin’ brain.” They said they were there to stop the will of the people and halt our 224-year history of the peaceful transfer of power.

Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and redeem the soul of America. —JOHN LEWIS

Sometimes we have fun with the public. We just make up shit to have a laugh. “Sir, what is your question? What is the statue at the top?” The real answer is that it’s a nineteen-and-a-half-foot statue of a woman, called the Statue of Freedom, but… 

“That’s the employee of the month,” I sometimes say. “Every month they put up a new one. They’re usually out of date by the time they get there, because it takes so long to make them. By that time, there’s usually another employee of the month, but we leave it there for a month anyway before we put the other one up.”

 “The statue? One of the interesting things about the statue is that it turns. When the sun hits it in its eyes, it gradually swivels. Nobody wants the sun in their eyes. So, to keep it realistic, it turns. Keep looking and you might see it.” 

It’s just fun and games, but those protesters and all those people, day in and day out, helped me grow in my political thinking. 

As we do our jobs at the hundreds of protests, we hear their slogans, we hear their chants, and you ask questions, sometimes to the people demonstrating and sometimes to yourself. 

Why is the minimum wage so important that you are here? Why do you think a woman’s right to have an abortion is wrong? People like the late Congressman John Lewis would demonstrate, knowing they would be arrested and go to jail. We knew they were going to jail. Why would these people, business leaders, congressional men and women, activists and regular citizens, go to jail for an issue? You talk to them. They talk to you. 

Somebody tells you they are taking half of their daily pill because they need to stretch it out because of the cost. Somebody else says they go to work every day, maybe work two jobs, and they still can’t afford what they need. You read about what they are talking about. 

You stand there, demonstration after demonstration. Some people come year after year because they believe something has to change. They don’t come just from DC or Maryland or Virginia. They come from all over the country because they want the people inside the Capitol to listen to them and make changes. In the end, you understand that people need to be able to come to the US Capitol and express their displeasure. You understand that your job is to protect the rights of the people in front of you. And you also realize that we, the Capitol Police, are protecting the people inside, who have the responsibility of serving the interests and concerns of those people gathered outside, right in front of you. 

The Tea Party was a conservative movement within the Republican Party that started right after Obama’s first presidential inauguration. That day, people came from all over the country. I remember looking at the crowd and thinking, “If these people decided to go into the Capitol, there’s no way we could stop them.” The event began as a demonstration against the Affordable Care Act, which, by now, everyone was calling Obamacare. But it morphed into a demonstration against anything Obama. Some people were hollering about gun rights and singing “God Bless America,” but mostly they were protesting and cursing Obama. Some of them were chanting, “Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar!” because that was what Rep. Joe Wilson, a Republican from South Carolina, had called Obama three days earlier during his first State of the Union address. One person had a sign that called Obama the “parasite in chief.” Other people had signs that basically said he was a Black Adolf Hitler. In the crowd, one guy had a sign supporting Obamacare. The other people in the crowd didn’t like that, and they began calling him names. They cursed him and basically called him a bum. “Go get a job, you asshole,” one of them shouted. “You just want the government to take care of you,” another said. “Get a fucking job.” The guy stood his ground and shouted back, “I’ve got a job. I go to work every day, but I can’t get enough hours on my job to have health insurance.” I kept my eyes on that guy to make sure he could protest without being attacked by other people in the group. They were loud and nasty...

And you understand what you do is more than just a job. When you took the job, you took an oath to protect these people, all of them. You have a great responsibility. You made a commitment. Now, you are obligated to make good on that commitment every day—no matter what.

...service by African Americans in every American war, even when our country didn’t want us there. Immigrants felt a special pain that day too, whether they came to America more than one hundred years ago or just got here. America is the place on which they have pinned their hopes and dreams. Some fled tyranny and persecution in their home countries; others left grinding poverty, and many, religious or ethnic bigotry...

Hey Glenda, Harry Dunn here.
This is a tough email to start – how do you talk about one of the darkest days of your life? Not to mention, an irreparable stain on this country's history.
So I guess I'll start with a question. Is this America?
Is attacking Capitol police officers – honest, good people dedicated to protecting and serving democracy – with baseball bats and spears, spraying them with WD-40, calling them hateful slurs – is that America?
Is a President of the United States emboldening a riot on the Capitol, encouraging people threatening to kill former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Vice President Mike Pence, who traveled to Washington ready to act on those threats – is that America?
That's not American to me. I believe in an America that protects its people, regardless of their political beliefs. An America that values democracy and those that are chosen to represent it. That's what I believed in while I served as a Capitol police officer during the January 6 insurrection. I know that is also what you believe in... And I am now running for Congress in Maryland's 3rd district. God Bless you for your support...

~~~

Yes, I supported Harry dunn on his run for Congress. Unfortunately, he didn't win--stacked up against the millions of dollars that were spent on the election, but he continues to speak Truth to America at every chance he gets! I had already posted an important sharing by Harry on a previous blog post. If you haven't already read it, click here to check it out before you leave today...

Harry chose to provide a memoir of his life to begin his wonderful book. Much like what I'm doing with my own memoir, he spends time sharing about his early life, enjoying hip hop music and looking toward a career in sports, although that didn't ultimately work out...

It was when he met a female officer who worked at the Capitol that he began to think about joining this special and elite group of American police officers... He spends time telling us about what training these officers have to go through, which was quite extensive! I was thinking about comparability with the security officers on campus while I was there... NOT! He talks about other protests throughout the years, but then quickly points out that he'd never experienced what was to occur on January 6th--that day! And, the Aftermath!

I was wide awake and watching every second of what happened on January 6th... I was wide awake to watch the entire investigation of January 6th by a bipartisan congressional group. I heard what was said and I know that what the witnesses provided was true... And, that there is NO WAY to forget what happened that day! I've been speaking out against all that has happened since then... And I support all movements today for those who are protesting all that has happened through the lies of the republican party on everything both before in the planning and afterward in continuing to lie through the next election, only to work to destroy America! We cannot let that happen!

Harry, I feel I can call him by his first name because I've taken the time to read his life story... Find books at Book Readers Heaven, by race for either authors or characters. Karen Dabney who I met years ago on Gather.com, which was one of the best sites ever, told me that the best way to pinpoint my reviews (I had just reviewed one of her first books) was to hashtag Black Author, Black Character or other IDs relevant to the thousands of books I've reviewed... I believe it is important to be open to what is written and said by all people, no matter whether I agree with the content or not...

How I wish that Harry had been elected! He could be standing tall along with Jasmin who is determined to speak truth about January 6th and what happened that day. And on any other day when republican party members choose to spread lies and disinformation rather than speak truth...

The one thing I want to spotlight is that Harry Dunn, a big strong man who could easily handle himself in a fair fight, admitted that he was and is still so traumatized by what occurred on January 6th, that he has had to continue ongoing discussions with his therapist to retain his own life experiences in perspective. He was NOT the enemy! The enemies of America, itself, came on that day. They were members of militias with guns, they were members of QAnon, They wore Nazi emblem shirts. There were those who marched in Virginia saying, Jews will not replace us..." They murdered police officers that day, whether by heart attack, by abusive action, including holding an officer with his head in a door...

The thing is, however, you'll be hearing a man who cared about not only his fellow officers, but all of the congressional members who were in danger. He was concerned that the Vice President might actually be caught and hung that day based upon the president's anger that Pence refused to falsify the election records. Harry determined that he could not return to his long-time career at the Capitol. No, he wasn't physically hurt... What he lost was his firm and human desire to serve and protect... He might have failed that day, in his mind and heart... But we who watched all of the officers trying to prevent entrance and damage to OUR Capitol, KNOW what they were suffering, knowing that they were outnumbered, but more, that they were dealing with savages that had no concern whatsoever about who, nor even why, they had joined a cult leader who claimed it had to be done... When actually, we had heard Trump say to the Proud Boys, himself... Stand Back and Stand By...

I applaud Harry for taking an important step to write this memoir, one that will be an important addition to both Black History and American History... If you haven't already, please support this writer who knew that WE needed to have his confirmation in writing about what he and all officers experienced that dreadful day!


GABixlerReviews

I felt that rage bubble up inside me again, a kind of hopeless anger that made me question everything. Did this building, its purpose and its history, mean nothing to these people? How could you call yourself an American and destroy the very symbols of what makes us unique in this world? None of it made sense to me, and that only deepened my anger. I eventually retreated to an empty room, where I didn’t have to see anyone. Burying my head in my hands, I cried. Someone might have seen me; I don’t recall. But I also didn’t care. I was falling into a state of mind that would consume me for months. Fueled by anger but crippled by sadness, I felt helpless. I snapped my Beats by Dre headphones on and lost myself in my music while I finally responded to the dozens of texts and Facebook messages I had received since the previous day. I didn’t spend much time answering each one. Instead, I opted for a quick response. “I’m safe, but not okay.” That’s how I spent most of that day, sitting alone, listening...

May God Continue to Bless You, Harry Dunn!