A Plaque to Honor Jan. 6 Officers Is MIA at the Capitol
A replica plaque commemorating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot stands outside the office of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, at the US Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
As the nation approaches the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, a plaque meant to honor the police officers who defended the building that day remains out of public view. Federal law requires the plaque to be displayed at the Capitol, but it has not been installed, and its exact location has not been publicly disclosed. According to the Associated Press, it is believed to be in storage.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has not formally unveiled the plaque. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice under President Trump is moving to dismiss a lawsuit filed by police officers seeking to compel its public display. The Architect of the Capitol, the office responsible for obtaining and placing the plaque, said it cannot comment because the matter is involved in ongoing federal litigation.
In response, roughly 100 members of Congress — mostly Democrats — have spent months displaying poster-board replicas of the plaque outside their office doors. The makeshift displays have spread throughout the Capitol complex. The replica text reads: “On behalf of a grateful Congress, this plaque honors the extraordinary individuals who bravely protected and defended this symbol of democracy on Jan. 6, 2021. Their heroism will never be forgotten.”
The plaque was intended to serve as a permanent memorial near the Capitol’s west front, the site of some of the most intense violence that day. Lawmakers supporting its installation say its absence sends the wrong message.
“That’s why you put up a plaque,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa. “You respect the memory and the service of the people involved.”
In the immediate aftermath of Jan. 6, congressional leaders from both parties strongly condemned the events. The Senate’s Republican leader at the time called it an “insurrection,” while the House Republican leader described it as the “saddest day” of his career in Congress. Over time, however, those statements have become less prominent in political discourse.
Historian Douglas Brinkley of Rice University said the long-term historical meaning of Jan. 6 remains unsettled. “Will January 6 be seen as the defining moment when democracy was in danger,” he asked, “or will it be remembered as a strange, isolated event? Five years later, there’s far less agreement than many expected.”
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