STANDING MY GROUND

A decorated law enforcement officer shares his experiences on the day of the Capitol insurrection.

Dunn was at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the building while Congress was in session. He and dozens of other officers were injured, several fatally. The author lucidly dissects the elements of the Capitol Police and how they work, and he briefly discusses his youth in Maryland and his desire to play professional football. When physical limitations sidelined those aspirations, Dunn found his way to the Capitol Police in 2008, where he observed how impassioned protests demonstrated the power of democracy and freedom of expression. These experiences helped him grow into his political thinking, which he shares throughout the book. Dunn dramatically recounts the hours leading up to the attack as he questioned the need to wear riot gear in anticipation of a possible attack. His intimate first-person chronicling of the crowd’s violent surge is as riveting as his account of retreating to his post, covered in pepper spray and bruises, to take a video call from his young daughter. He candidly addresses his mounting frustration and disbelief weeks later as the event’s violent intensity became diluted, told that it was just “random wingnuts who got a little too carried away.” Disillusioned, he fought for justice, starting with an interview with a Buzzfeed reporter and continuing with an impact statement to the Justice Department during an Oath Keepers trial. For appearing publicly, Dunn admits, he has been both praised and viciously vilified for openly rebuking the insurrectionists who “tried to destroy the very lifeblood of this nation.” Throughout this forcefully delivered book, Dunn’s passion for true patriotism and the tenets of constitutional democracy resonate, despite his emotional pain and PTSD.

A sobering, heroic testimonial about an infamous day in American history.