Jan. 6 plaque installed at U.S. Capitol following yearslong delay

Staff from the Architect of the Capitol’s Office installed a plaque Saturday morning honoring the U.S. Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies who protected the Capitol building during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

“On behalf of a grateful Congress, this plaque honors the extraordinary people who courageously protected and defended this symbol of democracy on January 6, 2021. Their heroism will never be forgotten,” the plaque reads.

Below the thank you text, the plaque lists all law enforcement agencies and other entities involved in responding to the attack. The United States Capitol Police Department and the Washington Metropolitan Police Department are listed above and separate from the others.

The installation comes two months after the Senate unanimously agreed to a resolution ordering the Architect of the Capitol to install a plaque honoring the officers who defended the Capitol on January 6.

The Senate resolution was introduced in January by Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., after Congress blocked plans outlined in a 2022 law to install a similar plaque by March 2023.

The 2022 law commissioned a plaque to honor officers who defended the Capitol and directed leaders in both houses of Congress to oversee and approve the installation. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., a key ally of President Donald Trump, had said the 2022 law was “not enforceable” and indefinitely delayed the installation of a plaque as described in that law.

The plaque ordered by the Senate resolution was installed on the Senate side of the Capitol. Merkley said in January that he would stay there until both chambers could agree on a more permanent location for him.

“It’s so important that we fulfill the vision of the 2022 law and get this plaque to honor these police officers,” the Oregon senator said on the Senate floor in January. “What this resolution says is that we in the Senate will display it here in a space accessible to the public until an agreement is reached with the House of Representatives to display it. Both houses have to agree on that, but to display it here in the Senate in a place where the public can see it, we can do it here on our own.”

Two of the police officers who served on Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol — Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges — filed a lawsuit last year over delays in implementing the 2022 law.

On Saturday, Hodges told NBC News in a statement that installing the plaque on the Senate side “is a good stopgap, but they are not yet in full compliance with the law and the weight of a court ruling would help protect the memorial from future tampering. Our lawsuit persists.”

Since the start of the second Trump administration, the president and his allies have sought to downplay the severity of the January 6, 2021 attack by his supporters, which occurred at the end of the president’s first administration as he sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Shortly after being sworn in last year, Trump pardoned about 1,500 criminal defendants indicted for their actions at the Capitol that day.