Five Years Ago Today, I Raised My Right Hand. This Year, They Spent $11 Million to Silence Me.

They don’t know me.

Five years ago today, I walked into a hearing room in the United States Capitol and testified under oath about what happened to me and my colleagues on January 6th.

I told them about the mob. The violence. The racial slurs screamed at me while I was in uniform, trying to protect the peaceful transfer of power. I told the truth. I have never stopped telling it.

That testimony led me to run for Congress. After I left the Capitol Police, I decided the only way to keep fighting for accountability was to go back to that building, this time as a member. I ran for an open seat in Maryland. I gave everything I had to that race. Outside special interests spent $11 million to silence me. I came in third. I am not going to pretend that it doesn’t sting.

But here is what I need you to understand: I am not depressed about losing a race. I am angry about the state of this country. Those are two very different things.

The fight for democracy never depended on any one election. I wrote a book called Standing My Ground. That was about what I did on January 6th, one officer, one day, one story. This newsletter is called Standing Our Ground because the work ahead of us belongs to all of us. I cannot do this without you and I am not going to try.

I will not gaslight you. I do not know if everything is going to be okay. What I do know is that if we keep showing up, if we keep fighting back, we give ourselves a chance. That is enough for me. I hope it is enough for you too.

Here is what Standing Our Ground will look like:

Free, always:

• The Watch: A short daily video. My honest take on the most important story of the day.

• The Daily Dispatch: Monday through Friday. What is happening and why it matters.

• The Good Trouble Report: Every Wednesday. One person who stood up that week when it cost them something.

• The 6th: On the 6th of every month. One story keeping January 6th accountability alive.

Paid members ($8/mo or $80/yr):

• Off Duty: Every Friday. Personal, off the clock. The version of me without a microphone in my face.

• OnlyDems: Conversations with Democrats actually doing the work. Not the cable regulars.

• Roll Call: Monthly live AMA. You ask, I answer. No prepared remarks.

Democracy Defenders ($270/yr):

This newsletter takes no corporate money and runs no ads. Democracy Defenders make the work possible from day one.

On January 6th I stood in that building and held the line. Five years later I am still standing. So are you. That matters more than I can say.

Standing Our Ground together.

-Harry

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