Standing My Ground: A Capitol Police Officer’s Fight for Accountability and Good Trouble After January 6th

Dunn pulls too many punches in this underwhelming account of his experiences as a member of the Capitol Police during and after the attempted Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection in Washington, D.C. He alternates between visceral accounts of holding rioters back from the Capitol—which included his being called the n-word for the first time by a protester—with reflections on his childhood in suburban Maryland and his adolescent hopes for a pro football career. Following a suggestion from a customer at his car rental job, Dunn joined the Capitol’s police force in 2008, rising to the rank of private first class by 2011. That training, Dunn explains, put him in good shape to handle the events of January 6. Unfortunately, when he addresses the security failures that enabled the event, Dunn descends into foggy vagueness, contending on the one hand that he was let down by his bosses, while on the other suggesting that police chief Steven Sund, who resigned at the behest of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was treated unfairly. Elsewhere, Dunn stumbles in his attempt to frame the Capitol riot as a collective “trauma.” This well-intentioned effort comes up short. Agent: Kirsten Neuhaus, Ultra Literary. (Oct.)