Late Friday night, more information came out about a past event involving a former U.S. Capitol Police officer who is now running for Congress in Maryland.
Harry Dunn, a candidate for Maryland’s third congressional district, first used paid ads on the radio in the state a few weeks ago. They showed pictures from the riots on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
In the 30-second ad, Dunn talks about his campaign while pictures of him in a U.S. Capitol Police uniform, Donald Trump, and protesters trying to break into the Capitol flash before his eyes.
And it’s not just about the people who work here; it’s about everyone else too, Dunn says in the ad.
We all have a say in our government, no matter who we are. That’s what I fought for for fifteen years. This message is okay with me because today I fought with everyone, not just them.
According to a private memo from the U.S. Capitol Police that FOX45 News was the only one to have access to, Dunn’s job with the federal police agency was looked into after a violent domestic incident. The memo says Dunn broke U.S. Capitol Police policy by keeping his gun at home in a unit that didn’t lock properly.
The document says that the Montgomery County Police Department was called to Dunn’s house because of a violent domestic attack involving Harry Dunn, who was an officer at the time.
“On November 22, 2011, Officer Harry Dunn got into a fight with his wife while not on duty,” the U.S. Capitol Police report says.
Police Officer Dunn and his wife got into a fight because his stepson, who is 16, wasn’t doing the work. They started to push and pull each other during the fight. Officer Dunn and his wife both had small scratches on their arms from the fight, according to the Montgomery County Police Department report. However, neither of them wanted to press charges.
A police report from inside the department says that Montgomery County police “determined they were victims of’mutual battery’ and no arrests were made.” The memo goes on to say that Dunn swore he went to get guns from inside the house after his wife allegedly “wiggled” a paring knife in his direction.
“Officer Dunn told the judge that he then went straight to a spare bedroom to get his service weapon and rifle.” Police Officer Dunn told the MCPD officer that he was trying to “take the weapons out of the equation.” The internal memo says that Officer Dunn’s service weapon was holstered and in the lockbox that his department gave him, but the lock had been broken for about a month before the event.
The memo says Dunn took the guns with him while his wife was around.
The memo also says that Officer Dunn said he didn’t get the guns because he didn’t want “anything bad to happen.”
FOX45 News started trying to get in touch with Dunn on Thursday to talk about the progress of his campaign and the paper that described the domestic violence incident. Dunn said he was willing to talk, but asked that questions be sent to his campaign manager.
Dunn’s campaign manager said that the first time he was available was on Monday. However, when they were told that the report was past due, the text conversation ended quickly.
“Harry is not going to be available. No changes were made to the sentence as it is.
FOX45 News sent a text message to Dunn’s personal cell phone on Friday afternoon to bring up the fact that his campaign had turned down interview requests. People also asked Dunn about the fight in November.
“What happened in the incident that led to an appeal regarding your brandishing your service weapon during a violent domestic dispute involving [your wife]?”
Soon after Dunn sent the text message, Lift Off Campaigns, Dunn’s campaign consulting group, called to find out more about the private memo.
After about an hour, his consulting team gave him this full statement from Dunn and his wife.
When we got married more than ten years ago, we fought sometimes, which is something that many newlyweds do. Harry has always been a calm and loving dad. “We were never violent with each other or our family, and we never made our home feel unsafe,” the statement read.
“Today, we still enjoy raising our 12-year-old daughter together.” It’s clear that the press is getting information about this hard time in our lives without our permission because MAGA Republicans want to attack Harry for being brave on January 6th. We didn’t expect them to go after our family. We ask that everyone be quiet around our family.”
News called the U.S. Capitol Police to ask why Officer Dunn was still on the job after a domestic violence incident. The agency was also asked why Dunn was allowed to carry a service weapon that was clearly not locked up, since gun theft and violence are common in the area.
Friday, people asked the U.S. Capitol Police for comment, but they didn’t answer right away.
Dunn’s campaign advice team gave him another statement about how safe his gun is.
The lock on my home lockbox broke thirteen years ago, and I didn’t fix it right away. “That was wrong, I was suspended for four days, and I learned my lesson,” Dunn said in a written answer.
No more comments were heard from Harry Dunn, his wife, his campaign, or his campaign advisers on Friday.
Harry Dunn, a former U.S. Capitol Police officer, announced his run for Maryland’s third congressional district spot the day before the third anniversary of January 6, 2021.
Dunn wants to take over the place that Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md., is leaving open when he retires. Howard County as a whole and parts of Anne Arundel and Carroll Counties are in this district.
Soon after the riots on January 6, Dunn spoke out about what he saw and heard that day. Before, he told the House Select Committee that was looking into the riots that about 20 of the rioters screamed the n-word at him as he tried to keep them from breaking into the House floor.
President Joe Biden gave Dunn the Presidential Citizens Medal to honor his work protecting the Capitol building.
A survey done by RMG Research on February 26 for U.S. Term Limits and Juan Dominguez found that Dunn was in second place among people who were likely to vote in the Democratic primary. In a race with mostly unknown candidates across the whole district, State Sen. Sarah Elfreth, D-Anne Arundel, was ahead of Dunn by just two points, 9% to 7%.