Dunn joined theUnited States Capitol Police in 2008. From 2009 to 2023, he worked as a first responder providing security around the exterior of theUnited States Capitol and as a member of the Capitol Police Crisis Negotiation Team. He was commissioned as an officer as aprivate first class in 2011,[6] and was named afield training officer in 2017.[9] In November 2021, Dunn ran against Gus Papathanasiou in an election to chair the U.S. Capitol Police Labor Committee.[10][11] Papathanasiou defeated Dunn in asecret ballot.[12]
Dunn, D.C. Metropolitan Police OfficerMichael Fanone, and Gladys Sicknick, the mother ofBrian Sicknick, advocated for the creation of aJanuary 6 commission, to investigate the attack in a method similar to the9/11 Commission in meetings withU.S. Senators of theRepublican Party.[17] He was in attendance when the U.S. House approved the formation of theUnited States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.[18] He testified to the committee alongside Fanone, Capitol PoliceSergeantAquilino Gonell, and D.C. Metropolitan Police OfficerDaniel Hodges in its preliminary hearing on July 27, 2021. In his testimony, Dunn said that rioters had used racial slurs against him during the attack[19][20] and that he has attended psychotherapy and engaged in peer support to help him process the trauma he experienced.[21] The four officers were given a front-row seat to all of the committee's public hearings in 2022.[22] Dunn has stated thatDonald Trump should be arrested for his conduct preceding the riot.[23]
Dunn testified in the 2022 trial of the Oath Keepers for seditious conspiracy for their actions relating to the Capitol attack. Though they claimed that they were trying to assist the officers during the attack, Dunn refuted their claims.[14] The trial resulted in the convictions of Meggs andStewart Rhodes.[24]
Dunn wrote a memoir, titledStanding My Ground, which was published on October 24, 2023, byHachette Books.[3][25] He resigned from the Capitol Police on December 17, 2023.[26]
In October 2023, after U.S. RepresentativeJohn Sarbanes announced that he would not run for re-election in 2024, Dunn expressed interest in a run for his seat inMaryland's 3rd congressional district.[27] He officially entered the race on January 5, 2024, running in a crowded Democratic primary field that includes five state legislators—Mark S. Chang,Sarah Elfreth,Terri Hill,Clarence Lam, andMike Rogers.[28] If elected, Dunn would have been the second Capitol Police officer elected to Congress afterHarry Reid's initial election toNevada's 1st congressional district in1982.[29][30] As a result of his strong fundraising ability and online presence,[31] Dunn was seen as a frontrunner in the race alongside Elfreth and Lam.[32][33] As of April 2024, Dunn led his opponents in fundraising with $4.5 million in contributions.[34]
During the Democratic primary, Dunn campaigned on abortion, infrastructure, healthcare, and gun reform.[35][36] He received endorsements from various Democratic celebrities, including U.S. RepresentativesNancy Pelosi,Jim Clyburn,Adam Schiff, andJasmine Crockett,[37][38][39] but none from elected officials within the district.[34] Dunn pledged not to accept campaign contributions from corporatepolitical action committees (PACs) and criticizedAIPAC for getting involved in the primary by running ads for Elfreth.[40] He also expressed support for Israel and its right to defend itself amid theGaza war, opposing conditioning U.S. aid to Israel. Dunn also voiced support for a bill to provide $74 billion in funding to Ukraine and Israel and humanitarian aid to theGaza Strip.[41][42] Dunn supported an amendment introduced by U.S. SenatorChris Van Hollen that would condition U.S. foreign aid on a country's compliance with international law,[43] but later reiterated that he would only support requiring countries to comply with existing conditions as opposed to establishing new conditions.[44]
Dunn was defeated in the Democratic primary election by state senatorSarah Elfreth on May 14, 2024, placing second with 25.0 percent of the vote.[45] He conceded defeat that night and endorsed Elfreth in the general election.[46]
Following his defeat, Dunn started his own political action committee, Democracy Defenders PAC, to support candidates running against pro-Trump Republicans.[47] In an interview withMaryland Matters in July 2024, he said that the PAC would not spend heavily on its endorsed candidates because he didn't want it to be seen as the PAC putting its thumb on the scale.[48] Dunn also campaigned for President Biden's2024 reelection campaign, and later Vice PresidentKamala Harris's2024 presidential campaign,[49] inswing states alongside fellow former U.S. Capitol Police officers who were present at the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 Capitol attack.[50]
Dunn married Danyel Moncree on June 11, 2009,[51] but the couple are now divorced.[52] They have a daughter.[53] Dunn lives inWheaton, Maryland,[48] and pledged to move to somewhere within Maryland's 3rd congressional district if elected to Congress.[28]
In November 2011, Montgomery County police officers were called to Dunn's home to respond to a violent domestic assault involving Dunn and his then-wife stemming from an argument about his 16-year-old stepson not doing the dishes. According to the internal memo obtained byPunchbowl News, Dunn's wife allegedly waved a kitchen knife in Dunn's direction, prompting him to retrieve his service weapon and rifle, which were stored in a department-issued lockbox with a broken locking mechanism, a violation of U.S. Capitol Police policy that led to a seven-day suspension without pay. When police arrived at the scene, both Dunn and his wife had minor scratches on their arms and neither were willing to press charges over the incident. In a statement toPunchbowl, Dunn and his wife acknowledged the argument and memo, but denied having been physically violent to each other.[54]
Dunn, Harry (2023).Standing My Ground: A Capitol Police Officer's Fight for Accountability and Good Trouble After January 6th. Hachette Books.ISBN9780306831133.
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