Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn Visits Eau Claire

Chippewa Valley residents gathered at the Pablo Center in downtown Eau Claire on Thursday morning for an event featuring former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn.

Dunn was one of the police officers who defended the Capitol during the January 6th insurrection, and is now traveling the country to share his experience with voters ahead of the 2026 midterm election. Prior to the event on Thursday, he reiterated that January 6th was the worst day of his life and highlighted his fight for true accountability in the years since.

"Since January 7th of 2021, I've been fighting for accountability," he said. "And whether that's the people who attacked me and my coworkers, whether that's the people who incited it, whether that's the people who sent the foot soldiers, which I believe Donald Trump did, I've sought accountability for that. And we've been through election cycles, we've been through court proceedings, we've seen the pardons happen and accountability has just seemed to go down the drain. So now I have to search for different ways to find accountability. And that's going after the people who were election deniers that I believe incited the violence that happened at the Capitol on January 6th."

Dunn also shared his message to Eau Claire area voters with just a few weeks remaining before Election Day, asking them to honestly evaluate how their lives have changed over the last two years before casting their vote.

"You all deserve better than what you have now," he said. "I think you have to step back and ask yourself right now, are you better now than you were two years ago? And if you can honestly say, this isn't about me, if you can honestly say you are, then vote for the status quo. Vote for Van Orden, vote for Tom Tiffany. But if you can't honestly sit there and say that, which I don't believe anybody can factually say that, vote with your heart, give people a chance. We deserve better."

The event was organized by Chippewa Valley Indivisible and officials say nearly 200 local residents attended. Democratic candidate for Wisconsin's Third Congressional District Rebecca Cooke also spoke at the event, calling on supporters to continue pushing towards victory in next month's election.