Nearly three years ago to the day, then-Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn came face to face with a violent mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters. Now he hopes to join the ranks of lawmakers he tried to protect on that day and the many since.
On Friday, the eve of the anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, Dunn launched a campaign in Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District, joining a crowded Democratic primary to replace retiring Democratic Rep. John Sarbanes.
“Because of Jan. 6 and everything that happened afterwards, it’s clear how much of a threat the extinction of our democracy is — it’s very present right now,” Dunn said in a phone interview Thursday ahead of his announcement.
“I do believe that we’re literally one election cycle away from the extinction of our democracy,” he added.
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Dunn, a 15-year veteran of the U.S. Capitol Police force, spent the months after the Capitol riot recounting his story from that day, when he was physically attacked by the mob, which also hurled racial slurs at him.
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