The Daily Populous Thursday February 5th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by time.com and submitted by LooseDistance1059

This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox. As Harry Dunn watches footage of federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, he can’t help but be reminded of the mob he battled at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “They are terrorizing people more than serving,” Dunn, a former Capitol Police officer, says to me of the immigration agents. “And law enforcement is supposed to be about serving. That is not what we are seeing now.”

For Dunn, dismantling Donald Trump’s immigration regime will be a central plank for the campaign for an open U.S. House seat in Maryland he launched Wednesday morning. And that promise is tied up in his experience on Jan. 6, which is now leading him to make his second run for Congress in three years. “I'm looking to be somebody that's going to stand in the middle, stand in the gap for the people that are suffering in this community and across this country,” Dunn told TIME in an interview on the eve of his campaign launch. “I have been doing it since January 7th.” As one of the 140 Capitol Police officers injured after Trump encouraged his supporters to march to the Hill to protest Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, Dunn has emerged as an outspoken critic of the President’s role that day, and an accidental spokesman for the officers who face the threat of political violence while protecting lawmakers. On that day, the mob hurled racist epithets, smoke bombs, and fists at him. By the end of it, his own fists were bloodied trying to repel a crowd he has labeled terrorists.

“We are not in normal times right now,” Dunn tells me. “We are at a 9-1-1 emergency and we need a first responder right now.” Dunn testified to the 9/11 Commission-style panel he lobbied for to investigate the attacks. He attended all of their hearings. He also testified against some of those criminally charged for their roles. He was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Citizens Medal and published a memoir about the ordeal. Dunn resigned from the force in 2013. Two years ago, he sought the Democratic nomination to represent Maryland’s 3rd district based in Annapolis. Many of the party’s national figures rallied around his bid. When he came in second, he quickly endorsed his opponent, now-first-term Rep. Sarah Elfreth, and went to work trying to help Joe Biden and later Kamala Harris block Trump. “A lot of the things that I talked about during my last race, they're happening now,” Dunn says. “Everybody was like, ‘Oh, you guys are overreacting. This guy's not gonna be an authoritarian. There are checks and balances.’”

“We have a Congress right now that is not only just turning a blind eye to everything that he's doing, but they're enabling him,” Dunn says. Dunn says he was not fully decided on another run until the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis at the hands of Customs and Border Control officers helping ICE. That pushed Dunn over the finish line although he has been a pretty solid presence in political circles since he left the force. Given his background and the focus of his campaign launch, I put a simple question to Dunn: Does law enforcement deserve our trust at this point? His answer is telling—and might be a credible option for fellow Democrats looking for a measured response. “There are law enforcement out there day to day who do their jobs respectfully, and they serve their communities. However, we're seeing one apple, two apples could absolutely spoil the bunch,” he says before lashing the union that serves as the leading political voice for police officers. “The Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Donald Trump's in his last three elections, and that includes after January the 6th.”

“So what should happen about ICE?“ I ask, given the deaths of Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis, and the Trump Administration’s immigration officer hiring spree. “It wasn't about training. It's about a mentality. It's about a mindset. I don't know how you train your way out of a mentality,” he says. “They're arresting maids and hotel workers and farm workers and cooks and construction workers. They're not targeting, as Donald Trump said that they would, the rapists and murderers.” (He adds quickly of the rapists and murderers: “Yes, they absolutely should go.”) The filing deadline for the Maryland primary is not until later this month and there is an eternity between now and the June primary. Dunn was a favorite around Washington and among donors but that didn’t translate to a win two years ago. This time, though, the images of immigration operations in civilian neighborhoods are fresh in voters’ minds. It’s partially why Dunn’s announcement video directly links the events of Jan. 6 to current events. “I see the same aggression in ICE agents that I saw from the Jan. 6 insurrection: unchecked force, American citizens murders, and lies to cover it up,” Dunn says in the launch video. “Tell Donald Trump I’m coming back to the Capitol, this time with a vote, with oversight authority, with subpoena power. … I’m ready to finish the job that I started. I will defend this country again.”

Dunn suggests he might have chosen to not center his campaign on Jan. 6 as much if he didn’t feel it necessary, given that Trump returned to the White House, pardoned the rioters, and continues to misrepresent that day.

“A lot of people say, ‘This guy just talks about January 6th,’” Dunn tells me. “I would love nothing more than to not talk about January 6th, but what I will not do is allow this administration to tell lies and falsehoods and paint their narrative as if it was a day of love and peace.”

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inthekeyofc on February 4th, 2026 at 21:46 UTC »

Comparing ICE the to the rioters? I'd lay money on them being made up of pardoned Jan 6 rioters, Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. Trump pardoned Enrique Tarrio, former chairman of the Proud Boys and met with him shortly after his release and prior to the big drive for new ICE recruits.

Edit: also - Tarrio is in the recently leaked list of ICE agent names. Tarrio is there under E rather than T.

_AdrianaFox on February 4th, 2026 at 21:43 UTC »

The fact that he defended the Capitol that day and still wants to hold people accountable, even ICE, is what makes him stand out. He’s not just playing sides, he’s actually pointing out the hypocrisy most won’t touch

Vast_Breadfruit_162 on February 4th, 2026 at 21:32 UTC »

That is an easy comparison when they are the exact same fucking people.