A plaque was made on January 6 to honor law enforcement at the Capitol. His whereabouts are unknown

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol approaches, the official plaque honoring the police who defended democracy that day has not been found.
It is not on display in the Capitol, as required by law. Its whereabouts are not publicly known, although it is believed to be in storage.

Read more: Jack Smith told Congress that the January 6 attack “wouldn’t happen” without Trump

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has not yet officially unveiled the plaque. The Trump administration’s Department of Justice is seeking to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the police officers, demanding that it be presented as intended. The Architect of the Capitol, who was responsible for obtaining and displaying the plaque, said he could not comment in light of the federal lawsuit.

Determined to preserve the nation’s history, about 100 members of Congress, most of them Democrats, took it upon themselves to commemorate this moment. For months, they installed replicas of the Jan. 6 plaque outside their office doors, flooding the Capitol complex with temporary memories.

“On behalf of a grateful Congress, this plaque honors the exceptional individuals who courageously protected and defended this symbol of democracy on January 6, 2021,” reads the fake bronze that represents the real thing. “Their heroics will never be forgotten.”

January 6 The emptiness in the Capitol

In Washington, D.C., which is lined with monuments to the nation’s history, the plaque was intended to become a simple but permanent marker, and is located near the West Front of the Capitol, where some of the fiercest fighting took place when rioters stormed the building.

But in its absence, the missing painting gives way to something else entirely: a culture of forgetting.

Visitors can pass through the Capitol without any formal reminder of what happened that day, when a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the building in an attempt to overturn the Republican’s 2020 reelection defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. With memory left unchecked, it allows new narratives to circulate and revised histories to take hold.

Five years ago, the jarring spectacle saw the Senate GOP leader worldwide declare an “insurrection,” while the House GOP leader at the time called it his “saddest day” in Congress. But those convictions faded.

Trump calls it “Love Day.” Johnson, who was among the lawmakers who challenged the 2020 election results, is now Speaker of the House.

“The question of January 6 — democracy was on the guillotine — remains how important this event was in the sweeping sweep of U.S. history in the 21st century,” said Douglas Brinkley, a professor of history at Rice University and a leading scholar.

“Will January 6th be seen as the critical moment when democracy was in danger?” he asked. he asked. Or will she be remembered as “some kind of one-time weirdo?”

“There’s not as much consensus on that as one would think on the fifth anniversary,” he said.

Memories change, but the violent legacy remains

At least five people died in the riot and its aftermath, including Trump supporter Ashli ​​Babbitt, who was shot and killed by police as she tried to climb through a window toward the House chamber. More than 140 law enforcement officers were injured, some seriously, many later died, and some committed suicide.

In all, about 1,500 people have been charged in the Capitol attack, among the largest federal prosecutions in the country’s history. When Trump returned to power in January 2025, he pardoned them all within hours of taking office.

Read more: Trump issued a second pardon to the defendant on January 6 for a separate firearms crime

Unlike the twin beams of light commemorating the attack of Sept. 11, 2001, or the free-standing chairs at the memorial to the site of the Oklahoma City bombing, the failure to recognize Jan. 6 has left a hole not only in memory but in helping to reunite the country.

“That’s why I put up a plaque,” ​​said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa. “You respect the memory and service of the people involved.”

Police have filed a lawsuit against the Jan. 6 billboard, and the Justice Department is seeking to have it dismissed

The speaker’s office has indicated over the years that it was working to install the plaque, but declined to respond to a request for further comment.

Lawmakers approved the plate in March 2022 as part of a broader state funding package. The resolution said that the United States “owes its deepest gratitude to these officers,” and also specified instructions for erecting a plaque listing the names of the officers “who responded to the acts of violence that occurred.” It gave a one-year deadline for installation at the Capitol.

This summer, two of the officers who fought the mob that day filed a lawsuit over the delay.

“By refusing to follow the law and honor officers as required, Congress is encouraging the rewriting of history,” officers Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges claimed. “It suggests that officers don’t deserve to be recognized because Congress refuses to recognize them.”

The Ministry of Justice is seeking to dismiss the case. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and others said Congress “already publicly recognized the service of law enforcement officers” by approving the plaque and displaying it would not alleviate the problems they claim they face from their work.

“It is unreasonable to suggest that installing the plaque “will stop the alleged death threats they claim to be receiving,” the Justice Department lawyers wrote.

The department also said the board is required to include the names of “all law enforcement officers” involved in the response that day — about 3,600 people.

Makeshift memorials appear

Lawmakers, who installed replicas of the plaque outside their offices, said it was important for the public to know what happened.

“There are new generations of people growing up now who don’t understand how close we came to losing our democracy on January 6, 2021,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a member of the January 6 Commission, which was opposed by GOP leadership but nonetheless issued a 1,000-page report investigating the lead-up to the attack and attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

Raskin envisions the Capitol one day giving tours about what happened. “People need to study this as an essential part of American history,” he said.

“Think of the dates in American history that we only know by dates: There’s the 4th of July, there’s the 7th of December, there’s the 11th of September, there’s the 6th of January,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who also served on the committee and has a plaque outside her office.

“They really saved my life, they saved democracy, and they deserve to be thanked for that,” she said.

But as time passed, there was no longer a bipartisan memorial service on January 6. On Tuesday, Democrats will reconvene members of the Jan. 6 committee for a hearing “to examine continuing threats to a free and fair election,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York announced. Republicans are unlikely to participate.

Johnson’s Republicans have hired Representative Barry Loudermilk of Georgia to form their own committee to uncover what the speaker calls “the whole truth” of what happened. They are planning a hearing this month.

“We have to stop this ridiculousness of trying to whitewash history — it’s not going to happen,” said Rep. Joe Morrell, D-N.Y., who helped lead the effort to display the replica paintings.

“I was here that day, so I’ll never forget it,” he added. “I think the Americans will not forget what happened.”

He added that the number of temporary paintings filling the halls is evidence of that remembrance.

Instead of one plate, they now have 100, he added.