Officers who defended US Capitol: Trump 'spewing falsehoods' about Jan. 6

LANSING, Mich. — Two police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol during the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, say Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is "spewing falsehoods and lies" about what happened that day while he seeks another term as the nation's leader.

In an interview with The Detroit News on Friday, Harry Dunn, who served in the U.S. Capitol Police, and Daniel Hodges, an officer with the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department, said Trump was providing the public with false information, including during a press conference a day earlier.

"The Republican nominee for president Donald Trump is lying about we all watched, what we all witnessed," Dunn said.

On Thursday, Trump touted the size of the crowd that came to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, and said his supporters there — some of whom stormed the Capitol to disrupt the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election — had been "treated very unfairly." Trump also falsely stated that nobody was killed on Jan. 6, 2021. One of the rioters, Ashli Babbit, was fatally shot at as she attempted to enter the U.S. House chamber.

“I think those people were treated very badly. When you compare it to other things that took place in this country where a lot of people were killed,” Trump said on Thursday, less than three months before the Nov. 5 general election.

Trump added that his supporters in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, were "there to complain about an election."

However, Secret Service confiscated "a haul of weapons" from the crowd, including 242 canisters of pepper spray, 18 brass knuckles and six pieces of body armor, according to the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.

Dunn, who served in law enforcement for 15 years and departed the Capitol Police in 2023, recalled seeing police officers being beaten with American flag poles on Jan. 6, 2021, and his colleagues not being able to breathe because they had been blasted with bear spray or Raid insecticide.

"The people that attacked us said that they were there because Donald Trump told them to go there," Dunn said. "Those are the facts."

Dunn and Hodges campaigned across Michigan Friday in support of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. They did events in Grand Rapids and Flint and sat for a 20-minute interview with The News at a coffee shop in Lansing.

Dunn and Hodges said institutions, like the court system, had failed to hold Trump accountable for what occurred on Jan. 6, 2021, as he worked to overturn his loss to Biden and pro-Trump demonstrators temporarily interfered with the certification process. Now, Dunn and Hodges argued, it's up to voters to do bring accountability at the ballot on Nov. 5, as Trump seeks a second term in the White House.

Asked about false comments Trump has made about Jan. 6, 2021, his Michigan spokeswoman didn't immediately provide a direct answer. Instead, the Trump campaign issued a statement saying Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, is anti-law enforcement.

"In 2021, Michigan had four of the 20 most violent cities in the nation," said Victoria LaCivita, spokeswoman for the Trump campaign in Michigan. "Michiganders know how crucial strong and supported law enforcement officers are in our communities.

"That's the only reason flip flopping Kamala is now, once again, attempting to cover her tracks. The Police Officers Association of Michigan has endorsed President Donald J. Trump because they know that he's the only candidate in this race that backs the blue."

Hodges, who is still a police officer in Washington, D.C., said he was punched in the face and beaten with a baton while he worked at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

"I was pushed up against the wall by several people, while one of them tried to gouge out my eye out with his thumb," Hodges said.

Hodges said it's not surprising, to him, that Trump has misrepresented the events of Jan. 6, 2021. At this point, Hodges said, it would be shocking if Trump described them accurately.

During a July 31 appearance at a National Association of Black Journalists conference, Trump said police were "ushering" people into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, some of the rioters had been "convicted by a very tough system," and he would "absolutely" pardon rioters.

Asked if he was concerned about the possibility of Trump trying to overturn the 2024 election if he loses to Harris, Hodges said the fact that Trump isn't the incumbent president this time could liberate him to be "more aggressive."

In 2020, there were people around Trump in the White House who could hold him back and threaten to quit if they disagreed with his actions, Hodges said. Now, Trump is surrounded by "yes men," Hodges said.

"He's got the Supreme Court on his side already, clearly," Hodges said. "So who's going to stop him?"

Dunn, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for a seat in Congress earlier this year, labeled Trump "the greatest threat to our democracy in a generation."

"As long as he's out there spewing falsehoods and lies about what happened that day and what didn't happen, I'll be right meeting him and confronting him with the truth," Dunn said.

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