WASHINGTON—A second U.S. Capitol Police officer told a federal court in Washington on Oct. 31 that he did not receive help from the Oath Keepers on Jan. 6, 2021.
U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn testified at the trial of five Oath Keepers members or associates. Dunn has worked for the Capitol Police for about 15 years. On Jan. 6, 2021, he started his shift at 6:45 a.m. and worked until midnight.
He told the court that there were two instances when people dressed as the Oath Keepers stayed between him and the protestors. The first instance was when Dunn was on the second floor of the Capitol, between the Rotunda and Statuary Hall, preventing people from going down the stairwell behind him. The second was when he was located on the first floor of the Capitol, in the crypt area at the bottom of the stairs.
According to Dunn, the Oath Keepers wore similar gear to Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) agents.
In direct examination, Dunn told Kathryn Rakoczy, a prosecutor, that neither Kelly Meggs nor Kenneth Harrelson, two of the defendants on trial, nor other Oath Keepers tried to offer their help when he was on the second floor of the Capitol.
“We have dozens of officers down. We are taking them out on stretchers. You all are [expletive] us up,” Dunn said on Jan. 6, according to a video displayed to the jury in court. While Dunn was in the crypt area, he saw multiple officers injured.
“Did anyone offer to help the injured officers you referenced?” questioned Rakoczy.
“Not to my knowledge,” Dunn responded.
In cross-examination with counsel Juli Heller, Dunn testified that during his interview with the FBI in May 2021, he told agents that he did not allow the Oath Keepers to shield him from the protestors on the second floor of the Capitol and between the Rotunda and Statuary Hall.
However, he told defense attorney Bradford Geyer that during the same interview with the FBI, Dunn told agents that he allowed people who looked like the Oath Keepers to stay in front of him while in the crypt area. Since police officers were injured downstairs, Dunn explained, “It didn’t make sense to fight with them, so I allowed them to stand in front of me.”
Dunn said he didn’t see the Oath Keepers’ patches on these people downstairs in the crypt. Later, he learned that the Oath Keepers wore distinctive patches. He told the court that during his interview with the FBI, he made a mistake since he thought the people in the crypt were Oath Keepers when they were not. They just wore similar gear or outfits to the Oath Keepers members.
Dunn described his experience on January 6 as traumatic, feeling distressed and scared. When Geyer questioned whether he might have mixed the two occurrences due to such a stressful day, Dunn denied it and said he remembered correctly.
There appears to be no video footage or pictures of Dunn and the people who looked like the Oath Keepers in the crypt area.
Ryan Salke, who also worked for the U.S. Capitol Police on Jan. 6, testified last week that no protesters tried to help him that day.
The testimonies by Salke and Dunn stand in contrast to stories from multiple witnesses who said the Oath Keepers assisted Capitol Police at the Columbus Doors on the afternoon of Jan. 6. Capitol Police Lt. Tarik Johnson asked Oath Keepers member Michael Nichols to help him rescue 16 officers trapped in the foyer of the Great Rotunda.
Six Oath Keepers emerged from the crowd on the east steps to clear a path for the 16 officers, 15 outfitted in riot gear. Several thanked the Oath Keepers after they reached the bottom of the steps.
Stewart Rhodes, Meggs, Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, and Thomas Caldwell have been charged with seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, aiding and abetting, conspiracy to prevent an officer from carrying out any duties, destruction of government property, civil disorder, and tampering with documents.
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