policy
WASHINGTON (AP) — Reminders of the violence have gotten increasingly rare on the Capitol.
Scars on the partitions have been repaired. Windows and doors broken by the rioters were replaced. And there isn’t a plaque, display or memorial of any kind.
Lawmakers rarely mention the attack, and lots of Republicans try to downplay it by repeating President-elect Donald Trump's claims that that day's carnage was exaggerated and that the rioters were victims.
In some ways, it’s as if the rebellion of January 6, 2021, which shook the foundations of American democracy, never happened.
“It’s been deleted,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. “Winners make history and Trump won. And his version is that it was a peaceful gathering. Obviously completely untrue.”
If Trump pardons rioters, as he said he would after taking office on Jan. 20, it will be “an exclamation point on his version of what happened,” Welch said.
Some of the 1,250 defendants convicted of crimes after Jan. 6 called for the deaths of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Mike Pence, Trump's vp, because the mob violently overran police and into the constructing penetrated. Some carried guns, zip ties, chemical irritants and Confederate flags as they ransacked the Capitol on the lookout for lawmakers. They sought to dam the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's victory over Trump, repeating the Republican incumbent's false claims that the election was stolen.
But the disruption was only temporary. Congress resumed its work that evening and accomplished its constitutional role.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one in all seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump on impeachment charges after Jan. 6, said: “It's been a very, very dark time.” Some lawmakers, she said, “really want this.” leave us behind.”
However, there are different reasons for this.
Former Republican Sen. Mike Braun, a frequent Trump ally who left Congress this 12 months and was elected governor of Indiana, said many within the party consider the Justice Department is “disproportionately armed” against some rioters. He said many lawmakers who were on the Capitol on Jan. 6 wanted as much distance as possible between then and now.
“I think we all remember that,” Braun said. But he added: “When you start putting up plaques, it looks like it further highlights the divide on this issue. “And perhaps the best treatment is to only keep going.”
Congress passed a law in March 2022 requiring “a plaque of honor bearing the names of all officers of the United States Capitol Police, the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, and other federal, state, and native law enforcement agencies serving on the violence that occurred on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.”
The Architect of the Capitol was ordered to acquire the plaque inside a 12 months and place it permanently on the West Front of the Capitol, where the worst of the fighting took place.
But almost three years later, there isn’t a plaque left. It is unclear why and who’s responsible. A spokeswoman for the Architect of the Capitol referred inquiries to the House Sergeant at Arms, who didn’t reply to requests for information.
Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer of New York and then-Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky signed the plaque, in line with a Senate leadership aide who was acquainted with the method but was not authorized to debate the matter publicly and spoke provided that that is the case anonymity. The Democratic leader within the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, also supported him. A spokesman for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., didn’t reply to requests for comment.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, who chaired the House Administration Committee when the law passed, wrote to Johnson in May asking why the plaque had not been installed. “If there is a reason for the delay, I look forward to any information you can share to that effect and what will be done to resolve the issue,” Lofgren said.
She never heard anything.
“It's not just the plaque, although it means something to the officers who were there, but the fact that no one cares enough about them to uphold the law and recognize the sacrifice they made for us and our country have,” Lofgren said. “This service to their country is not respected.”
New York Rep. Joe Morelle, now the highest Democrat on the House Administration Committee, said the refusal to position the plaque was a part of an effort “to deny that January 6th happened and the harm it caused to the U.S. police force.” -Capitol inflicted”.
Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges, who fought the rioters and was captured on video screaming as they crushed him in a doorway resulting in the inauguration ceremony, said it was “incredibly insulting” that the plaque was not installed became.
“It's an incredibly simple thing, but it can mean a lot to so many who fought that day to defend democracy, Congress, the vice president and the staff,” he said. He said Jan. 6 had turn out to be a political issue. “It shouldn’t be,” he said.
Hodges said he expects to work on Inauguration Day, one in all hundreds of law enforcement officials who will protect the president and the town on Jan. 20.
Former Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, who retired due to his injuries while fighting rioters near the tunnel on the Western Front, said he lost “my career, my health” and even some family and friends after the attack . He and Hodges were among the many few in law enforcement to talk publicly about their experiences.
“Looking back, it’s like it was all for nothing,” Gonell said. “It’s a betrayal.”
He said he wished the plaque was on the Western Front so Trump could see it before he takes the inauguration stage in a couple of weeks.
Trump “could read the names of the officials before he left,” Gonell said. “So he knew his actions had consequences.”
In the times following the Capitol siege, Republican condemnation was nearly unanimous.
“Count me out,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one in all Trump’s key allies, said on the evening of Jan. 6. Then-Republican leader of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy of California said per week later that Trump bore “responsibility” for the attack.
But McCarthy soon made amends and, inside weeks, traveled to Florida to satisfy Trump. It was a fateful decision that began Trump's slow return to power. When Trump returned to Capitol Hill during his campaign last 12 months, Republican lawmakers not only met with him but in addition gave him a standing ovation.
Over that point, Republican attitudes toward the January 6 attack have modified. GOP lawmakers have condemned the work of the Democratic-led committee that investigated the rebellion and fiercely disputed its findings. Some Republicans have echoed Trump's words that the imprisoned rioters were “hostages” potentially worthy of a pardon.
Still, the difficulty might be a sensitive one for Trump, who has promised pardons on “Day 1.” It is unclear how many individuals he desires to pardon or whether this includes probably the most violent criminals.
“If they physically assaulted police officers, I don’t think they deserve a pardon,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., one in all Trump’s closest allies, said in a CNN interview. “I think they should serve their time.”
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., said there are legacies of the attack even with no plaque hanging on the wall – akin to increased security at this 12 months's certification and Biden's invitation to Trump to come back to the Oval Office after the election , a return to the peaceful transfer of power.
“Don't you think people were thinking in the back of their minds that this was different than Jan. 6?” she said. “So it works, it’s important.”
Congress has updated the Electoral Count Act, the obscure law that governs the certification of a presidential election, to make it harder for members of Congress to object to the outcomes.
But with Trump back in power and lots of Republicans supporting his version of events, Democrats fear that a misrepresentation of January 6 will gain much more traction.
“If you don't want to remember history, the more likely it is to repeat itself,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. “There should be a minute of silence or a memorial service. There should definitely be a memorial plaque.”
In the times after the riot, Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., said he believed a broken window must be kept as a reminder. But the windows were replaced, reinforced and cleaned up. There is little evidence of the widespread damage, amounting to tens of millions of dollars, that the rioters inflicted on the constructing.
It's “painful” to see attempts to rewrite what happened, Himes said, but he doesn't consider Jan. 6, 2021 might be forgotten.
“I have faith in the story,” Himes said.
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