Officials who witnessed Capitol attack campaign for Biden in Wisconsin • Wisconsin Examiner

Two police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol during the violent attack on January 6, 2021, attended a press conference in Madison on Thursday to urge voters not to re-elect Donald Trump to the White House in November.

“Donald Trump continues to encourage and support political violence,” said Daniel Hodges, a Washington police officer who stressed that he was speaking in his own capacity and not as a representative of any police department or city. “He has not backed down from his statement that sparked an insurrection.”

The press conference was held by President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign. Hodges spoke on the steps of the Wisconsin State Capitol as Democratic activists and state lawmakers stood behind him.

“Here’s the message for Donald Trump,” Hodges said. “You can’t call yourself pro-police when you’re stoking political violence at every turn. You can’t claim to be on our side and then promise pardons for violent rioters who attacked me and other officers.” “As a police officer, I believe he has no business being anywhere near the Oval Office. I’m deeply concerned that if we don’t stop him, history could repeat itself.”

The press conference on Thursday was a reflection of the Key issues for the Democrats in the 2024 elections, against the “MAGA extremism” of Trump and the Republican Party. On Thursday, the Biden-Harris campaign released an ad that focused on the attack of January 6 as well as Trump’s statements that he would pardon people convicted in this context.

Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski introduced Hodges after describing the attack on live television.

“This was not a peaceful transfer of power,” Godlewski said. “It was un-American. It was an attack on the rule of law and on our democracy.”

Trump “continues to claim he won the 2020 election, which is a lie – even though his own fake electors have admitted in writing to my office that they were part of a larger conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election,” she said.

Her comment referred to the Republicans’ fake electors in Wisconsin who falsified electoral votes for Trump on December 14, 2020, in an attempt to overturn Biden’s victory in the presidential election in November of that year.

On December 6, 2023, the 10 false electors from Wisconsin settled a lawsuit in federal court from their actions, and as part of the agreement they sent a letter December 11 in the offices of the President of the United States Senate, the Archivist of the United States, the Federal Court, and the Secretary of State of Wisconsin.

The letter said the document containing the fraudulent electoral votes was “subsequently used as part of an attempt to unlawfully overturn the 2020 election results.” It acknowledged that they were not Wisconsin’s duly elected presidential electors.

Thursday’s press conference was part of a three-city tour; officials had scheduled appearances in Milwaukee on Thursday afternoon and Eau Claire on Friday afternoon.

“On January 6, we protected Republicans, Democrats and independents alike,” said Harry Dunn, the other police officer on January 6. “We believe in our institutions, we believe they need good people to be strong.”

The rioters at the Capitol wanted to “prevent the certification of the election,” Dunn said. “As bad as that day was, I’m proud to say that our officials won that day and the certification of the election took place. We may not be so lucky next time.”

He reported that Trump referred to those involved in the January 6 attack as “patriots” and pointed to the opinion that there would be “a bloodbath for the country” if he was not elected this year.

“I know what a bloodbath looks like because we saw one on January 6, and I fear it’s going to get worse,” Dunn said.

Trump was accused last year on federal charges of illegally attempting to overturn the 2020 election through actions culminating in the attack on the Capitol. His trial was postponed while the U.S. Supreme Court considers his claim that he is immune from prosecution for any acts he committed as president.

Although the participants in the attack were convicted, “accountability has not yet been imposed at the highest level,” Dunn said. “The person who instigated the attack has not been held accountable. In fact, we are still waiting for the Supreme Court to rule If he can be held accountable.”

Both officials acknowledged that they were frustrated that despite widespread publicity, including videos from news agencies and months of hearings by a U.S. House of Representatives committee, convened to investigate the attacka large part of the population seems to reject such first-hand accounts of the events during the attack.