Capitol Cop's Attorneys Slam Tucker Carlson After Fox News Rant

Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn previously told reporters he experienced racist abuse during the fatal Capitol riot in January of this year.

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Image via Getty/Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post

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An attorney for Harry Dunn, a Capitol Police officer who will soon testify before a special House panel about the fatal Jan. 6 riot, has addressed the latest comments about their client from Fox News personality Tucker Carlson.

During a recent episode of his show, Carlson—fresh off a flurry of coverage focused on the reactions to his baseless claims of the show being targeted for some sort of a takedown by the Biden administration—mentioned Dunn by name and attempted to call his legitimacy into question. 

“Dunn will pretend to speak for the country’s law enforcement community but it turns out Dunn has very little in common with your average cop,” Carlson, who once said leading a country “means killing people,” said. “Dunn is an angry, left-wing political activist whose social media feeds are full of praise, not coincidentally, for Nancy Pelosi.” 

Later, Carlson attempted to mock Dunn—a Black officer who previously opened up about the racist abuse he was made to endure during the Capitol riot—as a “fact-based witness to the insurrection.”

“Harry Dunn, ladies and gentlemen. Just another fact-based witness to the insurrection,” he said.

In a statement shared to Twitter Wednesday evening by attorney Mark S. Zaid, the comments about Dunn were condemned by his legal representation.

“Tonight Fox News allowed its host Tucker Carlson, who has not served a day in uniform, whether military or law enforcement, to criticize the heroism and service of African-American U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn,” the statement said, adding that Dunn had served 13 years in law enforcement.

On Jan. 6, Zaid and other attorneys for Dunn noted, their client was tasked with fighting back against a violent crowd, “no doubt many of them Carlson’s supporters.” In closing, the statement further argued that “the last thing Carlson wants is for the truth to emerge of what happened that day and why.”

In February, Dunn told ABC News’ Pierre Thomas that Capitol riot participants had used racial slurs against him, noting that he feared for his life while doing his job that day.

“They beat police officers with Blue Lives Matter flags. They fought us, they had Confederate flags in the U.S. Capitol,” Dunn said at the time.

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