Originally Published: January 11, 2024 1:24 p.m.

On Jan. 6, 2021, as he realized the U.S. Capitol was being overwhelmed by rioters protesting former President Trump's election loss, Harry Dunn strapped on a 20 pound steel chest plate, grabbed an M4 rifle, and joined the battle to keep the crowds back. Dunn, who was a Capitol Police officer, has been fighting ever since that day and is now attempting a run for Congress.

"I witnessed those injuries happening to them in real time," Dunn told TPM of the brutal violence visited upon his colleagues."People denied what we went through and we saw with our own eyes; individuals with lacerations, limbs being nipped, incapacitated, faces full of bear spray, WD40. Hell, people, were spraying Raid at police officers, throwing all kinds of projectiles."

In a Wednesday afternoon conversation with TPM, the candidate, who announced his run last week, talked about how it is motivated by a desire to confront right-wing election conspiracies and those who would attempt to deny what he and other members of law enforcement faced that day. 

"It's seared in my mind," he said "It's etched in my mind and it's downright disgraceful that people would deny what they saw with their own eyes."

In the three years since the attack, Trump and his allies in Congress have continued to peddle the false claims about the election that helped provoke the riot at the Capitol. They have also attempted to spread conspiracy theories blaming left-wing groups and the FBI for the violence. Some House Republicans have even advocated on behalf of the people who are currently imprisoned for participating in the attack. After being on the front lines during the violence, Dunn was at the forefront of efforts to confront the attempts to deny what had taken place.

Dunn was among a group of law enforcement officers who spoke before the House select committee that investigated the Capitol attack in the months afterward. He testified about the "desperate hand-to-hand fighting" and "torrent of racial epithets" he witnessed on Jan. 6. Following the televised hearing where he delivered an emotional account of the violence and lingering trauma faced by the officers, Dunn continued to tell his story on Capitol Hill and in the pages of a bestselling memoir. Along with eight other law enforcement officers and five local officials who resisted the push to overturn the election, Dunn was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by Joe Biden last year. 

For Dunn, the initial decision to speak up was an easy one. 

"I've always been believing that doing the right thing is speaking up when you see something wrong. Period. The question wasn't, 'Do I do it?' It was, 'When do I do it?'" Dunn explained. 

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