Mike Johnson won’t hang a plaque honoring the cops who defended Congress

More than 100 members of Congress are now displaying replicas of a memorial plaque honoring the police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol

More than 100 members of Congress are now displaying replicas of a memorial plaque honoring the police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6 because Speaker Mike Johnson refuses to install the original.

The plaque is not symbolic. It is not optional. It was created by an act of Congress, signed into law in March 2022, completed, and ready for installation by March 2023. According to testimony, it has spent the last two years sitting in a Capitol basement, stored near a mini-fridge and old lockers, awaiting Johnson’s approval. His office says installing it is “not implementable,” a phrase that is vague, bureaucratic, and revealing all at once.

In response, House Democrats have begun mounting replica plaques outside their offices, honoring the nearly 140 officers assaulted while defending lawmakers from a violent mob. Rep. Terri Sewell summed it up plainly: Congress voted to honor these officers, and Johnson is refusing to carry out the law. The result is a Capitol complex now dotted with unofficial memorials, a workaround born of institutional refusal.

Among the House members honoring these courageous officers — nearly 140 of whom were assaulted by violent rioters during the insurrection — is Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama, pictured here, who wrote: “Congress voted to honor the brave officers who defended our democracy on January 6th with a memorial plaque in the U.S. Capitol. Speaker Johnson is refusing to install it, so I’m hanging a replica outside my office. We won’t let their heroism be erased.”

The plaque’s creation was an official act of Congress, passed as part of the 2022 government funding bill and signed into law on March 15, 2022. It was due to be installed by March 2023. The Acting Architect of the Capitol has testified that the plaque is complete and ready.

Rep. Joe Morelle of New York eventually hunted it down last May — finding it shoved into a Capitol basement room alongside a mini-fridge, a scooter, and old lockers. It has been sitting there for two years, waiting for Johnson’s approval. That’s how much he values honoring these officers.

When asked about the long delay, Johnson’s office has offered the vague excuse that hanging it is “not implementable.” Johnson has also failed to personally recognize today’s fifth anniversary of the January 6th insurrection or organize any bipartisan memorial for the House.

His actions should surprise no one. Johnson himself was a central figure in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He organized an amicus brief signed by over 100 House Republicans supporting a lawsuit to throw out election results in four swing states. And on the night of January 6th itself — after the riot was quelled and the blood was mopped from the Capitol floors — Johnson voted to object to certifying the electoral votes.

A Mighty Girl

The contrast has only sharpened since the Orange Menace returned to office and issued sweeping pardons to more than 1,500 people convicted for their roles in the attack, including those who assaulted police officers and those convicted of seditious conspiracy. A convicted felon serving as President of the United States has called the rioters “heroes,” described January 6 as a “day of love,” and now presides over an administration promoting a revisionist narrative that blames law enforcement for violence he encouraged.

The rewrite of US history is now official policy. The White House has launched a website falsely and ridiculously accusing the Capitol Police of provoking the attack, erasing the death of Officer Brian Sicknick and the suicides of four officers who followed. It claims zero officers lost their lives and characterizes the mob as peaceful.

This is where things stand: the officers who defended Congress cannot get a plaque hung in their honor, while the people who beat them have been pardoned, praised, and rebranded. If Johnson will not follow the law to honor the police who saved his life, his colleagues will do it without him. And if the truth won’t be installed on the wall, it will keep showing up anyway.