A plaque honoring the law enforcement officials who protected the Capitol grounds during the riots on Jan. 6, 2021, was installed over the weekend, three years after the self-imposed deadline given by Congress to do so.
The plaque was installed near a Capitol entrance to the west front in the middle of the night on Saturday, roughly around 4 a.m., according to The Washington Post. Staff members for the Architect of the Capitol bolted the bronze plaque to the wall alongside a QR code with the title “Honored Law Enforcement” that takes viewers to a full list of all the officers present that day.
The unceremonious installation comes after years of infighting about how to honor the law enforcement officials who responded to the Capitol as thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump descended on the building in an attempt to disrupt the certification of the 2020 election. Congress voted in 2022 to commission the plaque and have it hang prominently in the Capitol to commemorate the day.
But after Republicans took control of the House in 2023, its placement was delayed. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., took issue with the language of the law, which would require the plaque to list all of the individual names of the officers who were at the Capitol that day — but the plaque that was commissioned only lists the agencies.
The listed QR code appears to fix that concern.
At least 160 officers were injured during the Jan. 6 riots, and hundreds of others were present as they sought to secure the Capitol building.
