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ABC News
Exclusive:
Capitol
Police
officer
recounts
January
6
terrorist
attack
Pierre
Thomas,
Victor
Ordonez,
Eliana
Larramendia
abcnews.com
"They
beat
police
officers
with
Blue
Lives
Matter
flags,"
Dunn
said.
WASHINGTON
- The
first
time
Harry
Dunn
stepped
inside
the U.S.
Capitol
also
happened
to be
his
first
day as a
Capitol
Police
officer.
“The
rotunda
… you
just
look up
and it
just
goes up
forever
-- it's
just an
amazing
architectural
building,”
Officer
Dunn
told ABC
News’
Chief
Justice
Correspondent
Pierre
Thomas.
“It's
hard to
not be
in awe
of it
when you
see it.”
Dunn
said the
rotunda
no
longer
resembled
the room
he once
knew on
Jan. 6,
the day
of the
siege on
the
Capitol.
“This
time you
look up,
it's
just a
cloud of
smoke,
fire
extinguishers
have
been
going
off,”
Dunn
recalled
walking
into the
room
soon
after
fighting
off a
mob of
angry
rioters.
“The
floors
are
covered
in white
dust,
water
bottles,
broken
flagpoles,
mask,
empty
canisters
of
pepper
spray,
helmets,
Trump
flags,
everything
in the
rotunda,
just
laying
there on
the
floor.”
Dunn
recalls
gasping
for air
through
the
pepper
spray
and bear
mace,
blood on
his
knuckles
and the
relentless
noises
from the
rioters.
He soon
found
himself
in
tears,
being
consoled
by a
fellow
officer
who
asked
him what
had
happened
amidst
the
chaos.
"’I
got
called a
[N-word]
a couple
dozen
times
today
protecting
this
building,’”
Dunn
recalled
telling
his
colleague.
“Is this
America?
They
beat
police
officers
with
Blue
Lives
Matter
flags.
They
fought
us, they
had
Confederate
flags in
the U.S.
Capitol.”
Dunn
is a
13-year
veteran
in the
U.S.
Capitol
Police
Department.
Speaking
only for
himself
and not
the
department,
Dunn is
the
first
U.S.
Capitol
Police
officer
to speak
publicly
about
the
events
of Jan.
6.
The
exclusive
interview
will air
Monday
morning
on "Good
Morning
America"
and next
Tuesday
at 10
p.m. ET
on a new
ABC News
primetime
magazine
called
"Soul of
a
Nation,"
a series
that
examines
the
Black
lived
experience
in
America.
During
former
President
Donald
Trump's
second
impeachment
hearing,
Rep.
Jamie
Raskin,
D-Md.,
quoted
Dunn
from a
Buzzfeed
article,
in which
Dunn
shared
his
story
anonymously
a few
days
after
the
insurrection.
“Is
this
America?”
said
Rep.
Raskin,
echoing
Dunn’s
words on
the
Senate
floor.
“It
took me
back to
a dark
place
because
I didn't
say it
for a
catchphrase
-- I
wasn't
trying
to
create a
slogan,”
said
Dunn. “I
struggle…
should I
be
proud?
No, not
at all.”
Dunn
does not
know if
his
words
were
effective
during
the
trial,
but he
wishes
they did
not have
to be
said at
all.
“Those
were my
feelings
and that
was my
truth --
it
wasn't a
proud
moment.
It took
me back
to a
dark
place,"
he said.
Dunn
does not
mince
words
when
describing
the
pro-Trump
rioters
who
stormed
the
Capitol.
“They
were
terrorists,”
Dunn
told ABC
News.
“They
tried to
disrupt
this
country's
democracy
-- that
was
their
goal...
And you
know
what?
Y'all
failed
because
later
that
night,
they
went on
and they
certified
the
election.”
Dunn
praised
his
fellow
officers,
including
officer
Brian
Sicknick,
who died
during
the
insurrection
--
describing
him as a
“brave”
and
“dedicated
officer.
Dunn
also
lent
praise
to
officer
Eugene
Goodman,
whose
heroics
were
caught
on
camera
that
day.
“There
were
dozens
of
Eugene
Goodmans
that
day,”
said
Dunn.
“Eugene
got
caught
on
camera
and I'm
not
surprised
that he
did the
right
thing,
the
brave
thing,
the
heroic
thing --
there
were so
many
Eugene
Goodmans
that
weren't
caught
on
camera
that
day. …
and I'm
proud to
work
with all
of
them.”
The
Capitol
Police
Department
has
fallen
under
scrutiny
since
the
attack.
Many are
questioning
whether
there
was a
lack of
preparedness
and the
actions
taken,
or not
taken,
from top
management
in the
days and
moments
leading
up to
the Jan.
6
attack.
The
Capitol
Police
Office
of
Professional
Responsibility
is
investigating
35
Capitol
Police
officers
for
their
actions
on Jan.
6,
according
to a
statement
issued
by the
department.
Six
officers
have
been
suspended
with pay
and
Acting
Chief
Yogananda
Pittman
has
directed
that
members
of the
department
whose
behavior
is not
in
keeping
with the
Capitol
Police
rules of
conduct
will
“face
appropriate
discipline,”
the
statement
said.
Former
Capitol
Police
Chief
Steven
Sund,
Metropolitan
Police
Chief
Robert
Contee,
former
Senate
Sergeant
at Arms
Michael
Stenger
and
former
House
Sergeant
at Arms
Paul
Irving
are
expected
to
appear
before a
Senate
hearing
in what
will be
the
first
public
testimony
on the
Capitol
breach
to date.
Pittman
is
scheduled
to
appear
before a
House
Appropriations
Committee
on
Thursday.
“Everybody
wants to
know
what
could
have
been
done
differently,
because
that
shouldn't
have
happened,”
said
Dunn.
“[I’ll]
wait for
the
investigation
to be
completed
officially
and not
draw
conclusions
about
something
of this
magnitude
-- I'll
just
leave it
at
that.”
ABC
News'
Jack
Date
contributed
to this
report.
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