Jan. 6 officer has perfect response to hysteria over pride flags

Harry Dunn, the U.S. Capitol Police officer and federally certified badass, gave a perfect response to the hot-breath screech-fest over the White House hosting a Pride Month event that included a flag supporting LGBTQ+ people. 

From day to day, it’s a toss-up as to what benign act the right-wing media ecosystem will attempt to reframe as something sinister. From beer to Barbie dolls to candy to video game consoles, there’s nothing that conservatives won’t co-opt for their culture wars. 

This week right-wingers have homed in on a multicolor flag meant to support LGBTQ+ people. Fox News pundits, in particular, have been obsessively focused on attacking the Biden administration for using the flag (despite the fact that Fox’s parent company has also used the flag to promote its corporate diversity efforts). 

The most ridiculous line of attack came from a Fox News host who falsely suggested the Biden administration had broken the law by having the pride flag at an equal level with the American flag.

As netizens noted on social media, there’s an American flag atop the White House. But Dunn, who has been honored for his work defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, offered the best reply of all. 

“Pretty sure this goes against some ‘flag code,’” Dunn tweeted, sharing a photo of a Jan. 6 rioter wielding a flag against police officers.

Dunn makes a great point here. Multiple Jan. 6 rioters used flag poles as weapons. And do you remember when the Republican National Committee claimed the Jan. 6 attack was “legitimate political discourse”? 

Only in a perverse mind is a pride flag on White House grounds more a desecration of Old Glory than using the American flag against a police officer. Yet these are the depths to which the Republican Party has fallen. 

Take a moment to appreciate the lunacy here. Right-wingers — who have been known to wave Nazi flags and Confederate flags — are trying to lecture on what it means to respect the American flag?

It’d be laughable if it weren’t so despicable and lacking in self-awareness. 

Nonetheless, shoutout to Harry Dunn: quasher of the Unamerican Revolution on Jan. 6, and a part-time clapback king.

CORRECTION (June 15, 2023, 9:08 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the employment status of Harry Dunn with the U.S. Capitol Police. He is a current Capitol Police officer, not a former one.