At 6 feet 7 inches, former United States Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn had to slouch slightly as he spoke under the navy blue canopy and greeted Democratic Party volunteers with a “What’s up, y’all?” Speaking in Gaston County, North Carolina, earlier this month, the former James Madison University football player was a familiar face to the crowd.
Speaking to volunteers who were preparing to go door-to-door for Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic candidates, Dunn said her campaign efforts this year had been an attempt to “turn lemons in lemonade. He was referring to the riot at the US Capitol is January. 6, 2021.
Dunn recounted his efforts to repel the riots that day. He said the rioters hurled racist epithets at him and that he experienced trauma from that day. He told North Carolina Democrats that all the police officers who responded on Jan. 6 were heroes.
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The crowd applauded as Dunn said, “The first thing we have to do is stop Donald Trump. » The former president continues to make baseless claims about the Capitol riot and the Election 2020.
Since the January 6 riot, Dunn has testified before Congress and in court in some of the prosecutions of the January 6 defendants, and he has written a book about his experience. His growing fame has made him a popular surrogate for candidates — in the same league as some Democratic governors and congressmen.
Days after her trip to North Carolina, Dunn traveled to Freeport, N.Y., and stood under the vents of a former restaurant converted into a temporary campaign office for the congressional candidate Laura Gillen. She’s a Democrat trying to win a Republican seat in the House of Representatives on Long Island. His team called on Dunn to help mobilize party volunteers.
That same week, he was on stage speaking with Democratic activists in Nevada, and here his remarks were a little spicier.
“I’m proud to have stopped that S**er,” using an acronym for a vulgarity referring to former President Donald Trump.
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Dunn and his former colleague, retired Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, have become popular and increasingly ubiquitous campaign surrogates for Democrats as the election approaches. In the four years since the January 6 riot, Gonell, like Dunn, has become a vocal critic of Trump’s actions following the 2020 election and also testified at the House of Representatives hearings on January 6.
Democratic candidates are capitalizing. Gonell told CBS News, “I’ve been to Arizona, Nevada and the Pennsylvania State Legislature. I traveled all over Pennsylvania, including the Lehigh Valley, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.
Gonell, who retired after being injured in the foot and shoulder by rioters during the insurrection, recorded a new campaign ad for Vice President Kamala Harris. In the ad, Gonell looks directly at the camera and refers to the rioters and Trump: “Donald Trump calls them warriors. And those of us who defended the Capitol, he insults us. And that’s the difference. The oath we took to defend our democracy we take seriously.
Gonell told CBS News it was also deployed to mobilize Latino voters in Pennsylvania. Democratic pollster Matt Barreto posted Gonell’s plea for Harris on social media. “In all of our research, undecided Latino voters tell us that supporting Trump on January 6 is a bridge too far,” he wrote. Dunn and Gonell also attended and spoke at the Democratic convention in August.
Dunn told CBS News: “For a lot of people, January 6 is about the front lines. One of the reasons it’s relevant is because Donald Trump keeps talking about it. Republicans say Democrats need to get over it. But Donald Trump is talking about it. at every rally, I would like nothing more than to not have to talk about January 6th anymore.”
Sitting at a table at an Arizona bookstore during a campaign stop in support of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Ruben Gallego, Dunn spoke about the injuries suffered by some of the more than 140 officers injured on Jan. 6. As cameras recorded the event, Dunn accused Gallego of his opponent, Kari Lake, of perpetuating the type of election denialism that gave rise to the Capitol siege.
Gonell, who testified at the trials and sentencing hearings of the Jan. 6 criminal defendants, blasts Trump allies for calling the Jan. 6 rioters “peaceful protesters” and Trump for his recent assertion that he Capitol riot was a “day of love.” “.
Gonell told CBS News, “I told my story and reminded people of the aftermath of January 6,” when he was beaten while on the front lines of the assault in a Capitol tunnel.
“It’s just me doing what I can to hold people accountable,” he said.
Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who served on the House committee on Jan. 6 and is running for a U.S. Senate seat, received help from Gonell for his campaign. In a fundraising campaign speech, Gonell praised Schiff, writing that he “fought tirelessly to reveal the truth about the January 6 insurrection and to ensure that those who incited the violence against our country be held accountable.”
Gonell told CBS News he hopes to end the election season with voter outreach in Pennsylvania’s Latino communities.
Schiff told CBS News: “Sgt Gonell is using his voice to encourage Americans to vote to protect our democracy in this critical election. And I will always be deeply grateful for his efforts to keep me and my colleagues – Democrats and Republicans – safe. January 6, and his courage and service on one of the darkest days in our nation’s history.
Dunn, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for a U.S. House of Representatives seat in Maryland in May, also launched a political action committee to provide fundraising and endorsements for Democratic candidates . Gillen, the Long Island Democrat running for New York’s 4th District congressional seat, recently received an endorsement from Dunn.
Dunn also pushed back in cable interviews on Trump’s recent claims about the Capitol attack.
“I’m not going to let people lie and say it was a ‘day of love’ or that it wasn’t a big deal,” he said.
Another former officer who protected the Capitol on January 6 took up the cause in the run-up to the election. is a former Washington, D.C. police officer Michel Fanonewho says he is not affiliated with a political campaign but helps an organization that advocates for elected leaders to ensure a peaceful transfer of power.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
The Courage for America organization confirmed that Fanone and Gonell attended nearly 50 events across the country focused on the upcoming election. Fanone has also been tasked with conducting outreach and interviews in local and national media to share his experiences during the attack on the Capitol, which refute the claims of some Republicans and Asset that it was a peaceful and patriotic demonstration.
Fanone was knocked unconscious and brutalized by a group of rioters, one of whom was accused of stealing his badge and radio during the attack.
“It’s nice to see that there are people from all walks of life and across the country who are as concerned about the future of democracy as I am,” Fanone said.
Fanone, who also testified before the select committee on January 6, told CBS News: “We really lost something as a country that we may not get back for a generation.” We have lost compassion, empathy and the ability to be courteous to one another.”
Scott MacFarlane
