WASHINGTON — Police officers who protected the U.S. Capitol during an hours-long attack by Donald Trump’s supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, are marching for Kamala Harris in hopes of preventing the former president, who faces criminal charges for trying to stay in office by lying about the last election, from reclaiming the White House.
Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, former Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell and current Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel “Danny” Hodges will pledge their support to Harris and presumptive vice presidential nominee Tim Walz in the coming days, joining the Democratic campaign for the first time since President Trump took office. Joe Biden fell from the top of the list less than three weeks ago.
Dunn and Hodges will be in Michigan this week, visiting Grand Rapids, Flint and Detroit, and members of the group will soon travel elsewhere, including to North Carolina and Georgia, the Harris campaign told NBC News. During the trips, the Biden-Walz campaign said, the operatives would meet with elected officials and community leaders to highlight what they call the urgent and immediate threat Trump poses to democracy.
Dunn told NBC News that his message won’t change since Biden withdrew, but that he’s very excited to campaign for Harris, whom Dunn knows from his time at the Capitol.
“She would always talk to us, because she was a former prosecutor. She loved law enforcement, so she would always talk to the Capitol Police officers,” Dunn said.
“Donald Trump, a criminal himself, wants to pardon other criminals,” Dunn said, referring to Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, for which he is set to be sentenced on Sept. 18. “The fact that he’s taking on a prosecutor, it couldn’t be more magical.”
Hodges, who is returning to work in Washington after his trip to Michigan, told NBC News that it was “really cool” for a veteran to have a former service member like Walz on the list.
“I’m happy to see all this energy and positivity in the Democratic Party. I think the Harris-Walz ticket is really strong,” Hodges said. “The stakes are incredibly high in this election, and Donald Trump is still an enemy of democracy and really the United States, and our best chance to defeat him is to vote for Harris and Walz.”
Hodges, who was brutally attacked in the lower west tunnel of the Capitol complex on Jan. 6, called Harris and Walz “powerful forces for good” in the country and said they would be the right people to vote for even if they didn’t run against Trump. He said he was grateful for Biden’s work and was glad to see the transition between Biden and Harris go so smoothly.
“I’m incredibly grateful for everything Biden has done for this country, and I know it wasn’t an easy decision for him to make,” Hodges said. “But things seem to be going well, and I sincerely hope we can keep the energy going.”
Trump continues to cling to his false claims about the last election, even as many of his own supporters, who are facing criminal consequences for their actions on January 6, have told federal judges they now feel like “idiots” who cheated and manipulated, regretting that they don’t have the IQs or critical thinking skills to see through the lies.
Others still believe Trump’s false claims — including a MAGA hat-wearing rioter who shouted “Trump won!” after he was convicted of stabbing former DC Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone in the neck with a stun gun — and many more are counting on Trump to be re-elected in November to avoid criminal liability for their actions. Fanone’s mother was also targeted in May after Fanone spoke outside Trump’s trial in New York and described the former president as “an authoritarian” with “a fetish for violence.”
Dunn said it had become clear during previous trips that even some local reporters he spoke to did not fully understand what happened on Jan. 6.
“Frankly, not everybody knows. We would assume that people who live here know, but in the middle of America, the average American, the average voter, [it’s about] “Make them understand that Donald Trump is a great threat to our democracy,” Dunn said. “People really don’t understand what happened that day, and to be able to tell them as a firsthand witness is refreshing and encouraging that people are willing to be receptive.”
More than 1,400 defendants have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and prosecutors have secured more than 1,000 convictions. Hundreds of defendants have received probation, but more than 500 have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from a few days behind bars to 22 years in federal prison.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
