Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Policing was what Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone knew. Politics is what they\u2019ve come to learn.<\/p>\n
The former law enforcement officers brutalized at the hands of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol have for three years had front-row seats to how Washington responds, shifts and spins with historic events.<\/p>\n
Both have chosen to amend their personal missions, turning their Jan. 6 trauma into political action.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important that every institution in this country, every American, take the responsibility of upholding democracy seriously,\u201d Fanone said in an interview.<\/a> \u201cAnd everyone needs to be doing everything that they can to ensure that a) Donald Trump does not succeed and b) the MAGA movement is extinguished.\u201d<\/p>\n Fanone is the face of a six-figure ad campaign to be launched Saturday by an advocacy group opposing what Democrats warn is a voter suppression bill.<\/p>\n Dunn announced Friday he will enter the crowded Democratic primary for Congress in Maryland.<\/p>\n On the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack, the two are making forays into the political arena. They\u2019re treading different paths, but both could serve as potent forces in the bid to stop former President Donald Trump from reclaiming the White House in this critical election year.<\/p>\n Fanone and Dunn say they feel compelled to move from protecting the country through policing to now protecting its integrity through politics.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to live by the phrase, \u2018Until there\u2019s nothing that can be done, there\u2019s always something that can be done,\u2019\u201d Dunn said in an interview.<\/a> \u201cAs a Capitol Police officer, I did all that I can do in that role to protect, defend and preserve democracy. But that is exhausted now.\u201d<\/p>\n Their names and stories have morphed into brands. <\/p>\n Their visibility was heightened after the attack by Trump supporters by their omnipresence on cable news networks and their testimony before the Jan. 6 select panel. They\u2019ve seen how the riot and its aftermath cleaved the country.<\/p>\n Dunn seeks to join the ranks of the House members to whom he\u2019s described the intense and lasting psychological trauma of the attack.<\/p>\n \u201cI have shown one that I am willing and able to fight back against the people that are trying to tear down and destroy our democracy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Fanone, a former D.C. Metropolitan officer, is featured in multiple Courage for America TV ads pressuring Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and other House Republicans around the country to abandon their support for legislation impacting how states administer federal elections. The bill is named the \u201cAmerican Confidence in Elections Act,\u201d but opponents call it the \u201cBig Lie Bill.\u201d<\/p>\n The spot<\/a>in Stefanik\u2019s northern New York district uses footage from the body camera Fanone wore as he responded to the insurrection, during which he was beaten and tased.<\/p>\n Fanone said he has no plans to run for elected office, preferring to live a life of relative seclusion \u2014 albeit not without being recognized and even cursed out in public by Trump backers.<\/p>\n He said he plans to vote for President Joe Biden after backing Trump\u2019s first election. For Fanone, wrestling back the narrative \u2014 and holding Trump accountable, including through the judiciary system \u2014 is the prerogative.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s everything that happened afterwards,\u201d Fanone said. \u201cImagine the most traumatic thing that ever happened to you, and then you\u2019ve got to go around for years convincing people what actually happened.\u201d<\/p>\n Fanone and Dunn offer a glimpse into how the some 140 officers physically injured on Jan. 6 as they guarded the Capitol are processing the events as they\u2019ve seen how the country chooses to move on from them.<\/p>\n Many have left Capitol and Metropolitan police forces. Some have published accounts of the political violence they survived.<\/p>\n Fanone\u2019s book is called \u201cHold the Line;\u201d Dunn\u2019s is \u201cStanding My Ground.\u201d Aquilino Gonell, a now-retired Capitol police officer, has a memoir called \u201cAmerican Shield.\u201d<\/p>\n