This January 6 plaque was made in honor of law enforcement. He

It is not on display at the Capitol, as required by law. Its whereabouts are not publicly known, although it is believed to be in storage.

Determined to preserve the nation’s history, about 100 members of Congress, mostly Democrats, have taken it upon themselves to commemorate the moment. For months, they have mounted posterboard-style replicas of the Jan. 6 plaque outside their office doors, resulting in a Capitol complex awash with makeshift mementos.

“In the name of a grateful Congress, this plaque pays tribute to the extraordinary people who bravely protected and defended this symbol of democracy on January 6, 2021,” reads the faux bronze representing the real object. “His heroism will never be forgotten.”

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January 6 empty in the Capitol

In Washington, a capital city filled with monuments to the nation’s history, the plaque was intended to become a simple but permanent marker, situated near the west front of the Capitol, where some of the most violent fighting took place as rioters stormed the building.

But in its absence, the missing plaque gives way to something completely different: 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 trying to overturn the Republican’s 2020 re-election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. By not controlling memory, new narratives are allowed to emerge and revised stories to take hold.

Five years ago, the discordant scene seen around the world was declared an “insurrection” by the then-Senate Republican leader, while the House Republican leader at the time called it his “saddest day” in Congress. But those convictions have faded.

Trump calls it a “day of love.” And Johnson, who was among the lawmakers who challenged the 2020 election results, is now speaker of the House.

“The question of January 6 remains: Democracy was on the guillotine, how important is that event in the big picture of 21st century American history?” said Douglas Brinkley, a history professor at Rice University and a leading scholar.

“Will January 6 be seen as the pivotal moment when democracy was in danger?” asked. Or will it be remembered as “something rare and unique”?

“There is not as much consensus on this as one might have thought on the fifth anniversary,” he said.

Memories change, but the violent legacy persists

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 into the House chamber. More than 140 law enforcement officers were injured, some seriously, and several later died, some by suicide.

In total, about 1,500 people were charged in the attack on the Capitol, one of 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.

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

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

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Swimming Pool

Police sue over Jan. 6 license plate, Justice Department seeks to dismiss it

The president’s office said in a statement Monday night that the statute authorizing the plate “is not implementable” and the proposed alternatives also do not “comply.” Johnson’s spokesman said that if Democrats really want to memorialize police, they are free to work with the appropriate committees to develop a framework for proper investigation and consideration.

Lawmakers approved the plate in March 2022 as part of a broader government funding package. The resolution said the United States “owes its deepest gratitude to those officers” and laid out instructions for an honorary plaque with the names of the officers “who responded to the violence that occurred.” He gave a period of one year for the installation in the Capitol.

This summer, two officers who fought the mob that day sued over the delay.

“By refusing to follow the law and honor officers as required, Congress encourages this rewriting of history,” said officers Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges. “It suggests that the officers are not worthy of recognition, because Congress refuses to recognize them.”

The Justice Department is seeking to have the case dismissed. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and others argued that Congress “has already publicly recognized the service of law enforcement personnel” by approving the badge, and displaying it would not alleviate the problems they say they face in their jobs.

“It is implausible,” Justice Department lawyers wrote, to suggest that installing the plaque “would stop the alleged death threats they claim to have been receiving.”

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

Makeshift memorials emerge

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

“There are new generations of people who are just growing up 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 committee, which was opposed by GOP leadership but nonetheless issued a nearly 1,000-page report investigating the lead-up to the attack and the attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

Raskin imagines that one day the Capitol will hold tours of what happened. “People need to study that as an essential part of American history,” he said.

“Think about the dates in American history that we know only by the dates: There’s July 4. There’s Dec. 7. There’s Sept. 11. And there’s Jan. 6,” 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 it,” he said.

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

Republicans under Johnson have turned to Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia to establish his own special committee to uncover what the speaker calls the “full truth” of what happened. They are planning a hearing this month.

“We should stop this nonsense of trying to whitewash history; that’s not going to happen,” said Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., who helped lead the effort to display the replica plates.

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

The number of makeshift plaques filling the hallways is a testament to that memory, he said.

Instead of one plaque, he said, “now they have 100.”