Former Jan. 6 officer: Trump win a betrayal by the American people

Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who defended the Capitol during the attacks on Jan. 6, 2021, said President-elect Trump’s victory in the 2024 election felt like a betrayal by the American people.

CNN’s Sara Sidner asked Dunn whether he feels more betrayed by the American people “who put Donald Trump back into office” or by Trump and his allies who “used language like ‘this was just a peaceful march’” to describe the riots.  

“It’s a little bit of both,” Dunn said. “I mean, Donald Trump is who he says he is. He is not surprising anybody, especially after four years of his past presidency. If a snake bites you, you get mad at the snake? No. That’s what a snake — the snake is supposed to bite you. But that’s who Donald Trump is.”

“I had more faith in the American people that they would see through and disqualify him for what happened on January 6th,” Dunn said.

Dunn said he was disappointed that the Senate was unable to reach the two-thirds threshold needed to convict Trump after he was impeached by the House for his role in the Jan. 6 riots and his attempt to delay the peaceful transfer of power. He also said he was upset that the courts failed to see the prosecutions through to conviction and that the Supreme Court granted Trump some level of immunity.

“These institutions continue to fail us,” Dunn said. “So I believed the American people were the last fail-safe on November the 5th. And it turns out that so many of them chose to sit this election out because it didn’t matter.”

“So, yeah, I can say I feel betrayed by the American people who said that it didn’t matter enough. Donald Trump has always had his base, his loyalists. They’re there," the former officer said. "But I thought that there were more Americans who cared about preserving the institutions and standing up for decency and what’s right.”

His comments come after Dunn and former Sergeant Aquilino Gonell told The Washington Post in an interview last week that they felt betrayed by the president-elect's vow to pardon Jan. 6 rioters when he returns to the White House.

Dunn launched his own political career just over a year ago when he jumped into the primary to represent Maryland's 3rd Congressional District. Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.) defeated the former Capitol Police officer in the May primary and was ultimately elected to replace retired Rep. John Sarbanes (D).

A month after his defeat, Dunn launched a new political group aimed at supporting candidates and targeting "anti-democracy MAGA extremists."