Capitol Hill Police Officer Harry Dunn spoke to a congressional panel investigating the January 6 insurrection riots about when he was threatened and surrounded by rioters. The deplorable rioters at some moments called him the N-word along with other racial insults.
“No one had ever, ever called me a n****r while wearing the uniform of a Capitol police officer,” Dunn said.
President Donald Trump supporters also targeted other Capitol Hill officers of color.
“One officer told me he had never in his entire 40 years life being called a n****r to his face and that streak ended on January 6. Yet another Black officer later told me he had been confronted by insurrectionists in the Capitol who told him, ‘Put your gun down, and we’ll show you what kind of n****r you really are.'”
Officer Dunn described himself sobbing after the incident occurred. He was in disbelief that this can still happen in America. He sat on a bench and recalled yelling, ‘How the f*ck can something like this happen? Is this America?'” becoming very emotional.
“I know so many other officers continue to hurt both physically and emotionally,” he stated. “What we went through that day was traumatic.”
After Dunn finished his testimony, Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone spoke about being tased by the rioters and suffered a mild heart attack along with a concussion. D.C. Officer Daniel Hodges followed after.
Officer Daniel Hodges referred to the rioters as “terrorists” throughout his testimony. He said that he remembered them carrying thin Blue Line flags. Although the flag represents the support of law enforcement, the rioters were attacking officers instead. According to Hodges, some terrorizers wore masks with Trump’s face while one was spotted wearing a QAnon hoodie.
Officer Harry Dunn spoke again during the hearing, notably saying, “While the attack was happening, I wasn’t able to process it as a racial attack,” today, he is “hurt just reading it now and just thinking about it.”
