History Direct from 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 They’re usually out of date by the time they get there, because it takes so long to make them.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!

Introducing Harry Dunn, Capitol Police Officer's, Standing My Ground! WE WILL NEVER FORGET JANUARY 6TH INSURRECTION!

 

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

We need to talk about our trauma. Yes, you and me. You may not think you are experiencing it, but you are. Ask yourself, What has this nation been arguing over for the past two years? What conversation has been dominating the media and the government, occupying our courts and our daily conversations, and even separating friends and families? What is the subject we promise ourselves to avoid with strangers? January 6, 2021. That’s what the dictionary says trauma is—“a deeply distressing or disturbing experience.” Trust me. I looked it up. The ripples from that day still threaten our democracy. The lives of election workers, the backbone of our electoral systems, are being threatened online via hundreds of messages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by those who would disrupt our elections. “Watch your back.” “I know where you sleep.” “Be afraid. Be very afraid.” Because I speak out about these challenges to our democracy, I get the same threatening messages. “We know where you live.” Domestic terrorists have shot out the electrical power systems for neighborhoods, and they are threatening to do the same for entire cities. Representatives in Congress continue to lie and claim our election system is rigged. Yes, we are still struggling with that day. The only difference between your January 6th trauma and mine is where we were when we experienced it. I was at the Capitol, immersed in a profane mix of sweat, screams, shrieks, anger, fear, blood, death, broken limbs, spit, hatred, horror, racism, bigotry, and heroism. Capitol and DC police officers fought hand-to-hand. Many of us thought we were going to die. Some of us did. We were cursed; doused with bear and pepper spray; and beaten with sticks, pipes, batons, shields, bike racks, and even the American flag. Donald Trump, then the nation’s commander-in-chief, did nothing to help us for three hours, even after politicians, his friends, and his own children begged him to. Instead, Capitol and Washington, DC, police officers battled alone. We fought for our lives, the lives of fellow officers, and the nation’s elected leaders. It didn’t matter if they were Republican. We didn’t care if they were Democrat or Independent. They were the men and women we sent to Washington to govern our nation. It was our duty to protect them and our democracy. We could have run away. We could have said, “We didn’t sign up for this.” But we did sign up for it—we just never imagined it like that. Hundreds of Capitol and DC police officers are still working through the physical and emotional scars of that day. All of us have changed. Some of us, physically, can no longer do the job. Others are haunted daily by what happened, including me. I still struggle with PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. But as I tell you about my struggle that day, I want you to remember this. While I’m one of the officers whose job it was to protect the Capitol, like you, I’m first an American citizen who cares about this country and wants to see it do right. I’m a voter. I’m a taxpaying citizen. This is my country, and I deserve to know the truth to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We all do. Just like I was marked by that day, you were too. You glared at your TV screen or listened to your radio in disbelief. You felt something you had never felt before, the shock and fear that somebody was trying to take over your country. You and I had seen lots of demonstrations before at the nation’s Capitol, many of them much bigger than this one—the original March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, Veterans for Peace, the Million Man March, the Women’s March on Washington, pro-choice rallies, antiabortion demonstrations, gun control, gun rights. Every issue you can think of from gay rights to immigration to climate change to the minimum wage to saving the whales. Americans with different agendas have been coming to the Capitol for more than 150 years to tell their elected leaders what’s on their minds. It is my job and the job of my fellow officers to protect them, no matter what their agenda. We are Americans, and, as Americans, we have those rights. Freedom of speech. Freedom of assembly. This is not Iran or Russia or Venezuela. This is not one of those countries where citizens are beaten, shot, killed, or disappeared for expressing their beliefs, their desires, or their dissatisfaction. But, this time, you were shocked because what you saw is not what Americans do. You looked on as thousands of Americans tried to kill or maim hundreds of other Americans. So-called American patriots brutally beat the men and women in blue they claimed to hold in such high regard. “Protect the Blue,” they preached. “Blue Lives Matter.” 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. These weren’t the international thugs and foreign terrorists of the movies trying to take over our country. Instead, these were people from our own communities—store owners, clerks, waiters, doctors, lawyers, IT specialists, real estate agents, CEOs, veterans and service members, police officers, accountants, retirees, and construction workers. Thousands of them screaming, spitting hate, and all with allegiance to one man: Donald Trump. After a while, some of you had to turn away. You couldn’t watch any longer. You couldn’t stomach what you were seeing because you just couldn’t believe this was happening. Not in America. Neither could I, even as I was battling insurrectionists and protecting our leaders. I’ve been thinking about that day a lot. In terms of raw carnage, blood, guts, and destruction, you and I have seen much worse. For decades we’ve viewed the bloodied, mauled, and maimed bodies of our American sons and daughters, chewed up by war, strewn across some faraway battlefield. Korea. Vietnam. Iran. The Persian Gulf. Somalia. Lebanon. Iraq. Afghanistan. We’ve seen the images of flag-covered coffins come home for heartbreaking ceremonies. The survivors with physical and mental injuries are daily reminders of their sacrifices. We watched as our cities burned from the 1960s to the 1990s, torn apart by racial injustice and strife, and as hundreds of mostly Black people were shot and killed by police and the National Guard. Washington. New York. Chicago. Detroit. Newark. Memphis. Atlanta. Los Angeles. Baltimore. Houston. Miami. More than 120 cities alone erupted after Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. Meanwhile, every year for the past twenty-two years, we have relived 9/11. We revisit that horrible footage of thousands of Americans who perished in the World Trade Center after our enemies crashed jetliners into the buildings. We watched people so helpless, so terrified, that they leaped from windows to certain death. We still weep for the first responders who perished trying to save them. And then we saw the murder of George Floyd. All of it was horrific, all of it unforgettable. But January 6th was different. This was a more vicious gut punch, one made even crueler because we didn’t see it coming. The insurrectionists tried to destroy the very lifeblood of this nation, our democracy. This was not an attack on one piece of what we hold most dear, not one person, not one community, not one town, not one city. It was all our communities, all of us at the same time. It was everything we believe in. And a lot of you cried. I cried too. I cried that day when I was carrying a rioter who had been trampled by the mob to our medical unit for CPR. I was crying when I ran to Senator Mitch McConnell’s side office door because we got a call that some of his staff had locked themselves in against the rioters and needed help. Almost from birth, we are told that our country is special because we have a democracy. It is where every man and woman has a right—no, a duty—to have a say in how it operates. “We, the people.” Those are the first three words of the US Constitution. We are told of its history and its founders—George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Nathan Hale, Patrick Henry. The American Revolution. Yes, it was imperfect. Only white men who owned land could vote, and hundreds of thousands of people were excluded from the process because they were slaves. Still, we grew up proud that no kings or queens lorded over us. We have a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Our government has an even greater special significance for some of us. For African Americans, our belief in its promise has been almost like a religion. We needed to believe. We had to believe. We had no choice. This place wasn’t right for us from the start. They brought us over in chains and changed our names and wiped out our culture even before there actually was an America. But almost from its birth, we have been trying to get America to do what Martin Luther King said in 1963: “Rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.” Our struggle for democracy has threaded through Crispus Attucks, the first person killed in the American Revolution; the trial before the Supreme Court for the men and women of the slave ship La Amistad; the Dred Scott and Plessy v. Ferguson decisions; the Civil War; the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments; Brown v. the Board of Education; the civil rights movement; and 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. When they searched for a better life, they were united in their belief in a place called America. They quickly learned that our streets weren’t paved with gold. Yes, there was discrimination here, but it was the government’s job to protect them, not persecute them. They could fight that government and challenge that government to do what’s right. They could vote, and their vote would matter. They could even be the government. Consequently, immigrants, the children of immigrants, and the grandchildren of immigrants are interwoven in our government and our culture. No, America didn’t always live up to its promise. We’ve had some horrible things happen here, like when the nation locked Japanese citizens in internment camps during World War II. Still, nobody is jumping on boats to flee America like they are doing all over the world. Why? Because it’s America. That’s why January 6th hurt so much. It was a frightening wake-up call that our democracy, this thing we hold so precious, can be taken from us if we don’t protect it. My fellow officers and I gave it our all on January 6th. We stood our ground, and because we did, our democracy is still standing. There are no tanks roaming our capital like in other nations after a coup. There is no martial law. There is no National Guard patrolling our streets. And I still stand, and I continue to fight. It is why I testified, along with three fellow officers, before the January 6th Committee, so we can get to the bottom of what happened that day and what led up to it. It is why I testified in two trials of Oath Keepers, to make sure their leaders were convicted and sentenced to prison. It is the same reason I have appeared on scores of news programs to talk about what happened. I don’t do it because I want to be a celebrity. I do it because I want people to know what happened to me and to my fellow officers, and what almost happened to our nation. Some people appreciate what I have to say. I have received thousands of letters thanking me and urging me to keep moving forward. I get praise daily through social media. On the other hand, I have been vilified by folks like Tucker Carlson when he was at Fox News, Newsmax, and MAGA fans, people who would sacrifice our democracy in their worship of Trump. I have been cursed and called profane names, and my life has been threatened. I’ve even been accused of doing what I do for the public attention. If there is one thing that I want you to know about me, it’s this. I would give everything back, the Congressional Gold Medal, the meeting and medal from President Biden, every media interview, every television appearance, my trial testimony, and my appearance before a congressional committee, if it would mean that January 6th never happened. I don’t give a damn about any of those things. If January 6th hadn’t happened, my fellow officers who lost their lives in the wake of that horrible day would be here to be loved by their families and friends and appreciated by other United States Capitol Police officers. If January 6th hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have gone through the mental anguish that I did and that I am still working through with counseling. If January 6th hadn’t happened, the place where I work wouldn’t be filled with regret and bad memories around every corner. If January 6th hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t be the subject of lies and ridicule all over the internet. I speak out not because I want something for me but because I want accountability. I want the people responsible for that day, including Trump and anybody else who conspired to breach the Capitol and try to halt our democracy, to pay a price, just like we paid a price. And I want us to never repeat a day like that. It is a stain on our nation. And if my detractors think I can somehow be scared away with their bullshit accusations and threats, they don’t know me. They don’t know Harry Dunn. I’ll continue to use my voice to protect this country. I’ll stand up to the lies and hate and racism and bigotry. I will always be standing my ground to make sure our democracy exists. And I’ll ask that you stand with me so that nothing like this ever happens again. We will get through this trauma. We will get through this nightmare, but only if we stand together. 

PROTECTING DEMOCRACY Most people don’t really know what we do as the Capitol Police. Before January 6th, many Americans probably didn’t know we existed, and many still don’t truly understand what we do, including my new friend Michael Fanone. Mike is the former Washington, DC, police officer who was seriously injured on January 6th while fighting alongside me and other officers to protect the Capitol. He joined the Capitol Police in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, because that’s the kind of guy he is. He stayed in the role for a few years before becoming a DC police officer. At some point after January 6th, Mike erroneously said Capitol Police were “glorified security guards.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The department didn’t suit Mike because he wanted the adrenaline rush of being a street cop—undercover drug busts, dramatic takedowns, and car chases with squealing tires. We can do that too, but that’s not what we tend to do. In early 2023, for example, we were closing in on a car reported stolen not far from the Capitol and across the street from where members of Congress frequently hold television interviews. Two guys bolted from the car. We caught one right away. The other escaped into an apartment building and barricaded himself in a third-floor unit. We contained the area and brought out our negotiations team. Ultimately, we dispatched the SWAT unit. The SWAT unit was literally seconds from breaching the door of the apartment when the second suspect surrendered after a seven-hour standoff. Inside the car, we found a 9 mm handgun that had been turned into a machine-gun pistol and an M-4 rifle, like the one I carry at the Capitol. The rifle was a “ghost gun,” which means the parts were purchased online and put together without the rifle being registered. I am certified in M-4 weaponry and carry my registered rifle while I’m on duty to protect people in- and outside the Capitol. The weapons those guys had, however, are for committing crime. They can’t be connected to an individual if they are recovered by law enforcement. So, like I said, we have the capacity for that intense degree of law enforcement, and more, but that’s not our day-to-day. The Capitol Police have lots of capabilities, in part because we are a relatively large police department. No, we’re not New York or Los Angeles or Chicago or even Atlanta, but, according to the Justice Department, our two thousand officers make us a far larger force than 90 percent of the nation’s more than 12,200 local police departments and three thousand sheriff’s offices. Plus, we have all the machinery of most big-city departments—in some cases, even more. The Capitol Police have motorcycle cops, cops in cars, and a canine unit. We have a Riot Control Unit with all the special gear that big-city departments have. We have a Hazardous Devices Section, a Hazardous Material Response Team, Special Operations, and a Crime Scene Search Team. We have a Containment and Emergency Response Unit and a SWAT team. We have a Crisis Negotiation Unit, Reports Processing Team, Court Liaison Unit, and Special Events Section. I could go on, but I think you get the point. As a visitor to the Capitol, you seldom see members of those units. If you do, you’ve crossed into a bad space. The most visible element of the department is the Uniformed Services Bureau. That’s guys like me. We are a 24/7 team of officers who provide security for the Capitol and congressional office buildings. Our protection area goes from as far as H Street on the north side, P Street on the south side, Seventh Street on the east side, and Third Street on the west side. It is divided into the Capitol Division, which, obviously, is assigned to the entire Capitol, as well as a unit assigned to the House of Representatives, another to the US Senate, and another that covers the Library of Congress. We provide security and protection to the members and staff at three Senate office buildings that run along Constitution Avenue north of the Capitol: the Russell Senate Office Building, the Dirksen Senate Office Building, and the Hart Senate Office Building. We are also responsible for three buildings on Independence Avenue south of the Capitol: Cannon House Office Building, the Longworth House Office Building, and the Rayburn House Office Building. These buildings house the members of the House of Representatives and their staff. To the untrained eye, a lot of what we do could appear to be the work of security guards. We screen visitors to the Capitol Complex. We tamp down crime in and around the Capitol. We enhance relations with the community and its citizens as we help people find their way around a sprawling complex. What my friend Mike didn’t understand is that while we do all the things other police departments do, our core mission is not to fight crime. Our mission is to protect, to prevent crime, and to provide a safe space for democracy to function. Our job is not to chase a crime after it happens, which is the primary function of most police departments. Our job is to keep it from happening. Think about it for a moment. Do you think people—foreign and domestic—haven’t tried to shut down the Capitol and hold the nation hostage before January 6th? Do you think people with a grudge against a member of Congress or a senator haven’t wanted to take one of them out? No? In October 1983, an Israeli visiting the United States entered the Capitol with two plastic bottles filled with a flammable liquid, gunpowder, and improvised shrapnel. The device was rigged to a detonator with copper wire. He planned to explode it where it could do the most damage. Four plainclothes Capitol Police officers stopped him before he could. A month later, in a bathroom in the Capitol, two American members of a communist organization assembled a bomb that detonated and caused extensive damage. Fortunately, no one was killed or injured. After an investigation, they were tried and imprisoned. In 1998, a man with a history of paranoid schizophrenia, which included being committed for nearly two months in a Montana hospital, triggered the metal detector at a Capitol entrance. He was carrying a gun. When Capitol Police approached him, he shot and killed one officer and then wounded a tourist and another officer. He ran into the office of a member of Congress and fatally shot a Capitol Police detective who was assigned to protect the member of Congress. Before dying, the detective shot the man four times. The gunman survived and was subdued and arrested by two other police officers. Several lives were saved by that Capitol Police detective. There are other examples, including the anthrax letters a terrorist sent to two senators in the Capitol following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Those, though, should be enough to help you understand that our job is to ensure that the women and men you send to Washington to do your business have a safe place to do it, regardless of their party affiliation or politics. Yes, what they do is messy, it is complicated, and it is noisy. At times, it can be exasperating and tiresome. Still, it is the government we have chosen. So, we protect them. We also make sure that when you or your church, mosque, synagogue, or other organization comes to the Capitol to have your voice heard, you are protected, whether you come individually or in the tens or the hundreds or the thousands. You see us perform our job day after day, year after year. It’s all so baked into our democracy that you hardly think about it...

~~~

You know folks, this is TRUTH... No matter what Trump and the Republicans are trying to do, they LIE

They have manipulated people like no other president ever has done. Even Nixon, another republican who was a criminal and left office in disgrace was a petty criminal in comparison...

I included the last video--it helps to consider one person's situation.

Right Reason? To me, it represents exactly how the beginning of the misinformation began and, I've learned that if you have lies repeatedly given by a president, then what can happen, it means somebody can decide they had a "right reason" to attack our CAPITOL

Now try to explain that to me...

My opinion, the rhetoric that led up to the January 6th Insurrection was going on for so long that repetition of misinformation led to how it happened for some.

I, on the other hand, had been somewhat of a fanatic keeping track of all that was done during the 2016 term

And, on January 6th, I was there watching as Trump incited people to go to the Capitol

I watched the January 6th congressional investigations

I've read follow-up books from a number of participants

I know Truth when I hear it because it supports what I had already seen by my own eyes and ears...

I feel sorry for the guy in the last video... and hope that what is going on right now to so many people, the lawlessness being initiated by the now president can be stopped by those who still have the will to fight for God's Truth...

God is Watching

I pray your actions support Him in all Ways

Gabby