Jan. 6 plaque honoring police officers quietly installed at the Capitol after a 3-year delay
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Steps from the Capitol's West Front and where the worst of the fighting occurred, workers quietly have installed a plaque honoring the officers.
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Visitors to the Capitol will now have a visible reminder of the violent attack against the building on Jan. 6, 2021, and the officers who fought and were injured that day. Steps from the Capitol's West Front and where the worst of the fighting occurred, workers quietly have installed a plaque honoring the officers, three years after it was required by law to be erected. The plaque was placed on the Senate side of the hallway because the Senate voted unanimously in January to install it after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had delayed putting it up. "On behalf of a grateful Congress, this plaque honors the extraordinary individuals who bravely protected and defended this symbol of democracy on January 6, 2021," the plaque says. "Their heroism will never be forgotten." The Washington Post first reported the installation of the plaque, which was witnessed by a reporter about 4 a.m. EST Saturday. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., led the effort to install it as he commemorated the fifth anniversary of the attack and described his memories of hearing people break into the building. "We owe them eternal gratitude, and this nation is stronger because of them," he said of the officers who were overwhelmed by thousands of President Donald Trump's supporters and eventually pushed them out of the building. The mob of rioters who violently pushed past police and broke in were echoing Trump's false claims of a stolen election after the Republican was defeated by Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. The crowd stopped the congressional certification of Biden's victory for several hours, sent lawmakers running and vandalized the building before police regained control. More than 140 officers from the U.S. Capitol Police, the Metropolitan Police Department and other agencies were injured. The fight to have the plaque installed came as Trump returned to office last year and the Republican Congress has remained loyal to him. Trump, who has called Jan. 6 a "day of love," h...
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