Under preparation
first installment In Blaze Media's three-part mini-documentary series “A Day in the Life of Harry Dunn,” we update readers on how we got to this point in our “The Truth about January 6th” series I decided.
I had been writing about January 6th for nearly two and a half years before becoming a correspondent for Blaze Media. As a result, many readers may not be familiar with the background story that led to the major revelations surrounding the perjury trials of Capitol Police Special Agent David Lazarus and Officer Harry Dunn. Our report also exposed corruption within the leadership. united states capitol police.
My interest in the Capitol Police began when I first witnessed the violence that took place on the West Terrace of the Capitol on January 6th. Through the lens of my camera, I captured the fear in their eyes, not just from the attack by a small group of violent people. From the overwhelming sight of thousands of protesters, not provocateurs, advancing on their positions. The police were clearly taken by surprise.
but why? Were they unaware of the march planned that day and the legally permitted protests on Capitol grounds?
I needed to find answers to these questions, and that curiosity has now evolved into a three-and-a-half year investigation into the inner workings of the Capitol Police.
Not an ordinary day
When I first met former Capitol Police Lt. Tariq Johnson, I had previously written about how he and his fellow officers were made into “sacrificial pawns” on January 6th. I told him. He pointed at me and said, right. They didn't tell us anything about what happened that day. ”
Now, imagine you're a Capitol Police officer coming into work on January 6, 2021, expecting a normal workday. Whether you're new or have 20 years of experience with the agency, many police officers, regardless of their specialized training or position, work for VIP visitors and casual tourists at the nation's headquarters. I have spent years performing the equivalent of a glorified tour guide. government.
This is an oversimplification, as the Capitol Police is comprised of a variety of specialized units, including long-gun certified officers, insurrection units, criminal investigation units, intelligence units, VIP protection units, SWAT teams, and hazardous equipment teams. is. There are a few others.
Why didn't the front-line officers of the Capitol Police know what was going to happen?
Skip to where the first people breached the barricades on the west side to see where Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards was pushed to the ground by the first assailants and knocked unconscious after hitting her head on the concrete steps. Now imagine being one of dozens of Capitol Police officers. Officers were ordered to respond to the initial agitators and provocateurs, redeploy and secure the West Terrace of the Capitol. Many people, believed to be protesters, arrived wearing gas masks, carrying blunt weapons and carrying canisters of various types of pepper spray. And who knows what else was hidden under their thick winter clothes.
You may have heard on Capitol Police radio that unexpected visitors have already breached the outer barricades. They are now pushing and pulling against the barricade line you have just arrived to defend. Some rioters have destroyed permanent black metal fences, turning the pieces into clubs and projectile spears.
You arrive at the front without any protective gear. There are also no helmets, eye protection or gas masks. Still, your job is to prevent further invasion of the Capitol, where Congress and the Vice President of the United States are currently meeting to certify the electoral votes.
Already outnumbered by both peaceful demonstrators and violent agitators, I looked out over the crowd to see thousands more demonstrators marching toward my position, with unknown intentions. I can see you doing it.
As they defend the third line of hastily erected bike rack barricades, they end up being shoved, hit with flagpoles and pieces of fence, and pepper sprayed. You don't know if the thousands of people approaching your position also have violent intentions, or if they have more dangerous weapons.
You may naturally think that you may never be able to return to your family again. Tariq Johnson said exactly that to me. During the initial chaos and violence on January 6, Johnson called his wife and told her he might not make it out alive.
video certification
Two years later, many of my initial impressions have been challenged by newly available evidence. For example, on the night of January 6, after returning to my hotel room in Arlington, Virginia, I posted a video on YouTube in which I said I had witnessed much of the violence by Trump supporters. After returning home, I spent five days analyzing each frame.
my own footagetaken through the Capitol building from the West Terrace Front of the Capitol.
During that video review, I kept wondering, “Who is that?”
By the time I published
my first story All my initial preconceptions about what I witnessed that day were overturned. I adopted a new rule for life: “I'll never again believe in anything I haven't seen with my own eyes…but I'll still refer to the videotape.''
In chaotic and violent events, our eyes can deceive us. That's why every law enforcement officer knows that if there are 12 witnesses to a violent crime, they will give 12 different accounts of what happened. Without sufficient experience with such events, the shock of unexpected violence causes people's minds to record and process the event in different and often contradictory ways.
We now know, beyond a reasonable doubt, that some of the frontline agitators and provocateurs who initially thought they were all Trump supporters were, in fact, not.
Right-wing militias also participated. Left-wing anarchists and Antifa? probably. I have definitely observed crowd manipulation tactics by professional provocateurs experienced in inciting violence and coordinating the movements of large groups.
Do I know for sure who these provocateurs were working for? Not completely, but my understanding is growing.
Secret special forces on the scene
Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger said in his final testimony before Congress on February 23, 2021: Become a professional agitator. ”
In January 2023, defense attorney Bradford Geyer told Capitol Police Lt. Carnisha Mendoza during the trial of Richard “Viggo” Barnett, who posed with his feet on Nancy Pelosi’s desk. , directly asked whether the provocateurs he observed on January 6 were “acting as highly trained violent activists.” Please adjust together. ” Mendoza admitted, “Yes.”
Ahead of the second story about January 6th —
Published February 24, 2021 —My investigation led me to discover and report that several federal agents, including Army Special Forces operatives, were lurking in the crowd that day. This was later confirmed in the headline of a January 3, 2022 Newsweek article.A secret special forces unit with shoot-to-kill authority was in the Capitol building.”
Newsweek revealed that the mission of virtually all three-letter federal agency tactical units and “the military's role in this top-secret operation” is “still unknown.” However, those special operators and tactical units were “on loan” to the FBI.
If the FBI had enough information in advance to send in such a highly trained and well-armed covert force, why did the Capitol Police's front-line officers also do nothing? Didn't know what was going to happen?
Or did only certain people in the Capitol Police leadership know what was going to happen that day?
