GOP Refuses to Put Up Plaque to Honor Jan. 6 Law Enforcement

Republicans are refusing to hang a plaque honoring police officers who defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot. Three years ago, Congress approved the installation of the plaque, which pays homage to those who protected lawmakers—including an officer who lost his life. But the bronze memorial is currently sitting in a Capitol basement utility room and hasn’t seen the light of day. Legislation required that the plaque, which declares that law enforcement’s “heroism will never be forgotten,” be installed by March 2023. But Republicans took control of the House right before the plaque was set to go up. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has not instructed the Capitol Architect to install it. On his first day of office, President Donald Trump issued a blanket pardon to more than 1,500 people charged in the deadly insurrection. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, said that “the reason why the law hasn’t been complied with and a plaque hasn’t been erected is because Republicans, directed by their puppet master Donald Trump, have been told to erase Jan. 6 as if it has never happened.”