Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn at Tuesday's Capitol riot hearing compared former President Donald Trump to someone who contracted a hitman to do his dirty work.
In just one of several charged comments at the hearing by a new select committee, Dunn, a longtime member of the Capitol Police, made reference to crimes where a higher-level figure hires a hitman to commit a crime.
'I use an analogy to describe what I want is a hit man,' he told the committee. 'If a hitman is hired and he kills somebody hit man goes to jail but not only does the hit man go to jail but the person who hired them does.'
'If a hitman is hired and he kills somebody hit man goes to jail but not only does the hit man go to jail but the person who hired them does,' U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Harry Dunn testified Tuesday. He called on lawmakers to 'get to the bottom' of who sent rioters to the Capitol
Dunn did not mention President Trump by name at the time he said it, but also appeared to compare the president himself to a hitman. Trump spoke at a 'Stop the Steal' rally near the White House before his supporters stormed the Capitol and overwhelmed security.
He made the comment when panel chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) asked witnesses what they want the select committee created by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House to investigate.
'There was an attack carried out on January 6th and a hit man sent them. I want you to get to the bottom of that,' he said.
Metropolitan Police Department officer Michael Fanone and Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges arrive to testify before the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on July 27, 2021. Fanone said it was no 'coincidence' that the Stop the Steal rally was January 6th
Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges (r) asked lawmakers to find out if 'anyone in power had a role in this' after describing what he experienced on January 6th
President Donald Trump spoke to supporters at a 'Stop the Steal' rally that concluded shortly before the riot. His supporters who stormed the Capitol echoed some of his claims of election fraud
Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest outside the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC
The officers spoke at a hearing where lawmakers aired violent footage of clashes between police and rioters
Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who also testified, made a similar point shortly before Dunn, after noting that other probes have looked at 'micro concerns' like Capitol security.
'As a police officer a lot of these events happened in plain sight. We had violent political rhetoric, we had the organization of a rally, whose title was Stop the Steal, and that that rally occurred on January 6th, which I don't believe was a coincidence that on January 6th members of Congress ... were charged with tallying the electoral votes and certifying the election of our president.
'In the academy we learn about time, place and circumstance in investigating potential crimes and those who may have committed them. And so the time, the place and the circumstances of that rally, that rhetoric and those events to me leads in the direction of our president and other members, not only of Congress and the Senate.
But that is what i am looking for is an investigation into those actions and activities which may have resulted in the events of January 6th and also whether or not there was collaboration between those members, their staff and these terrorists.'
DC Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges, who spoke after Fanone, said Fanone 'hit the nail on the head there.' Then he offered his own request, at the end of a hearing where he was forced to view violent footage that featured his own head being wedged inside a Capitol door while he was being beaten by rioters.
'As patrol officers we can only deal with the crimes that happen on the streets, the misdemeanors and occasionally the violent felonies,' said Hodges.
'But you guys are the only ones we've got to deal with crimes that occur above us. I need you guys to address if anyone in power had a role in this – if anyone in power coordinated or aided or abetted or tried to downplay, tried to prevent the investigation of this terrorist attack. Because we can't do it. We are not allowed to. And I think a majority of Americans are really looking forward to that as well,' he said.
Dunn also praised GOP Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for serving on the panel organized by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
'Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are being lauded as courageous heroes. And while I agree with that notion, why? Because they told the truth? Why is telling the truth hard? I guess in this America, it is,' he said.
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