Former Officer Harry Dunn Runs In Maryland’s fifth Congressional District | EUROtoday

The “havoc and terror” inflicted on America by Trump, his sure males and the administration’s supporters in Congress is a dynamic all too acquainted to former U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn.

“I have been on the front lines,” he mentioned.

Five years in the past, Dunn was one of many Capitol cops defending the members of Congress from Trump’s mob on Jan. 6, 2021, enduring a torrent of violent assaults and racial slurs. He held the road amid chaos — and in a second of maybe some irony now — he rushed to offer a girl CPR on the ground contained in the workplace of Democrat Rep. Steny Hoyer.

This yr, it was just some hours after Alex Pretti was killed by federal brokers in Minneapolis that, tons of of miles away in Maryland, Dunn determined to run for Congress.

“I said, ‘We’ve got to do this. We have to do this. People are dying and we have to push back and get in there,’” he recalled in an interview with HuffPost this week.

Dunn is operating for the seat that Hoyer will vacate for Maryland’s Fifth Congressional District. Hoyer has held it since 1981 however introduced his retirement on Jan. 8, only a day after Renee Good was gunned down by ICE in Minneapolis. Dunn introduced his marketing campaign on Feb. 4.

It’s his second bid for Congress after a slender main loss in Maryland’s third district in 2023. When he ran the primary time, Dunn mentioned he centered on the threats Trump posed to democracy and what would occur if he returned to the White House with a Congress keen to allow him. This time — these threats have come to be.

“It’s not even an administration anymore. We’re in regime territory, and we need as many people [as possible] that are going to stand up to him, especially when the Democrats take back the House in these midterms coming up, we’re going to need people,” Dunn mentioned.

If he’s despatched to Congress, he gained’t reduce any “blank checks” for companies or officers who refuse to reply questions, he mentioned, as a result of Congress holds the purse and he intends to maintain it that manner. Using his subpoena powers as a lawmaker, Dunn mentioned he would pressure solutions from administration officers about ICE’s brute pressure techniques, shrouded membership and total operations. High-ranking company officers would come below intense scrutiny and be up for removing, he mentioned.

“I see the same aggression in these ICE agents that I saw from rioters on Jan. 6,” Dunn mentioned. “Maybe they are wearing their masks because they will be identified as people who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6.”

“I believe we need to abolish ICE,” he added. “In the way that it exists right now, I don’t see a way of functionality.”

As a 15-year veteran of the Capitol Police pressure, Dunn underwent coaching in de-escalation and negotiation techniques. Training — and adhering to that coaching — is the distinction between life and loss of life for members of the general public in addition to officers on the beat. What Dunn sees taking place wherever Trump’s ICE brokers go doesn’t give him confidence in ICE.

The ICE and CBP brokers concerned within the taking pictures deaths of Good and Pretti had been skilled and had years of expertise, he famous.

“These weren’t just some rookies who just made a training error,” he mentioned. “We are beyond the point of being able to train our way out of this.”

Dunn considers himself “100% pro police” and is “absolutely, full stop” in assist of immigration enforcement to take away prison offenders like rapists, murderers and drug traffickers. What he gained’t do is assist blanket immunity for police or paint immigrants with one broad brush or ignore the pressing want to enhance paths to citizenship.

“There could be a way to do this, but they have shown over and over again that they don’t want to. The blatant disregard for humanity, for human safety. They’re hitting people with their cars. They’re throwing tear gas at reporters, at peaceful protesters. They’re shooting people. It’s insane,” he mentioned.

Holding the road for democracy could also be his speciality, however it’s removed from his solely curiosity. Dunn believes that for Democrats duking it out within the Maryland main, this election gained’t actually be about big disputes in coverage since they largely align on points like well being care, schooling, and — notably — affordability.

“The point is: Who is going to be able to be the most forceful? Who is going to press every button, pull every lever available to them, take every chance and use the full weight of the constitutional authority granted to a member of Congress?” he mentioned.

In one other life, earlier than Jan. 6, Dunn mentioned he would have been glad to only “donate a couple dollars and go knock on doors” for his favourite candidate. But he forsook the “luxury” of standing again and hoping another person would determine it out way back.

“Respect to all career politicians, because some are good, but I don’t think this is the time for a career politician. We need somebody that’s going to restore order, restore the faith, restore the trust in Congress, in the government, and we only do that with accountability,” he mentioned.

Dunn mentioned he believes the Trump administration’s abuses of energy are inextricably linked to each “kitchen table issue” in America. He highlights the impacts on the district he’s operating in: The cuts by DOGE in early 2025 hit Maryland, in addition to close by Washington, D.C., and Virginia, exhausting, leaving laid-off staff reeling as they handled an abruptly inundated job market and excessive prices of dwelling.

There are near 150,000 federal staff in Maryland and 75,000 of them reside in Maryland’s Fifth. According to Hoyer’s workplace, practically 20% of all staff in MD-5 are federal staff, the best share of any district nationwide. There are additionally 48,236 energetic responsibility and reserve army personnel serving in Maryland.

“My friends and my loved ones are being affected by this. People across the country, in the community,” he mentioned. “That’s what this is all about… all roads lead back to Donald Trump and his billionaire buddies getting these tax breaks, and Donald Trump growing his net worth because of the presidency,” he mentioned earlier than noting Trump simply sued the Treasury and IRS for a $10 billion payout, out of taxpayers’ pockets.

“He don’t give a damn about nobody but himself,” he mentioned.

“My goal is to make sure the people are being heard in those halls, the people are being represented in those halls,” Dunn mentioned. “I want to stand in the void where they are being attacked, and stand up for them.”