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Far-right online groups posted racist messages, including a noose GIF, after Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn's testimony

Jul 30, 2021, 21:32 IST
Insider
Officer Dunn, who responded to the Capitol insurrection on January 6, testified to the House Select Committee as part of their investigation into the riots. PBS NewsHour/YouTube
  • Telegram users are posting racist comments about Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn.
  • Dunn testified on Tuesday as part of an ongoing investigation into the Capitol riots.
  • One comment includes a GIF of a noose, while others share conspiracy theories about his testimony.
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Members of far-right channels on the messaging platform Telegram have been posting racist comments and imagery following Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn's testimony before the House Select Committee amid its January 6 Capitol riot investigation.

The racist remarks on Telegram were in response to a post that was shared across nine prominent far-right channels on Wednesday. Cumulatively, these channels have over 200,000 subscribers, with over 56,000 users viewing the post across all channels, several of which reference the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon.

Users in these channels also posted false conspiracy theories about Dunn, including that he and others who testified before Congress were "paid actors."

The original post contained screenshots of tweets that users suspected belonged to Dunn, that showed support for former President Barack Obama, criticized Fox News host Laura Ingraham, and referenced racism in America.

In addition to the screenshots, the original Telegram post claimed Dunn had a "history of anti-Trump statements" and had supported Black Lives Matter protests.

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After one prominent far-right channel with more than 73,000 subscribers shared the original post, eight others forwarded the post to their viewers.

On the channel the screenshots were originally posted, one commenter shared a GIF of a noose.

On other channels, another commenter referred to Dunn using a racist epithet.

While he testified before the House committee, Dunn said rioters claimed that "nobody voted for Biden," to which he responded, "Well, I voted for Joe Biden. Does my vote not count? Am I nobody?"

Dunn said a woman in a pink "MAGA" shirt responded by using the N-word, which he said was then chanted by the crowd.

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Ahead of that testimony, Fox News host Tucker Carlson dubbed Dunn "an angry left-wing political activist." Dunn's lawyer, Mark Zaid, said in a July 22 tweet that Dunn received "numerous vile/racist" messages after Carlson's segment - including some that "specifically cite" Carlson, he said.

Zaid and Telegram did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

As Insider has previously reported, Telegram is extremely popular on the far-right and has been a place for organizing in the wake of the Capitol riot. Telegram users also posted about plans to attend the January 6 protest-turned-insurrection with firearms, The Washington Post reported.

To read more stories like this, check out Insider's digital-culture coverage here.

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