An Oath Keepers member charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection claims he was protecting a U.S. Capitol police officer during the riot, but the officer disputes that account.
Kenneth Harrelson claimed Thursday in a court filing that he helped de-escalate a tense situation as Officer Harry Dunn placed his hand near his service weapon during the Capitol riot, which was quickly denied, reported Politico.
"Mr. Harrelson, and other Oath Keepers, inserted themselves as a buffer between the opposing points of force, as Oath Keepers do," the defendant's lawyer argued in the filing.
But Dunn, a Black officer who testified before Congress about racist abuse he endured during the riot, strongly denied the Oath Keeper's claims.
"It is completely false, absurd and nothing more than an attempt to deflect responsibility for his own illegal, unpatriotic actions," said Dunn's attorney Mark Zaid.
Harrelson is among nearly two dozen Oath Keepers charged with conspiracy to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden's election win, but he's one of the few who remain jailed while awaiting trial.