A Democratic congressman shamed his Republican colleagues for their refusal to honor law enforcement personnel who defended the U.S. Capitol from rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
A plaque honoring those officers as heroes was approved by Congress, but more than three years after its installation was signed into law by former President Joe Biden, the tribute remains stashed away in a utility room because House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) hasn't instructed Capitol architect to do it, reported the Washington Post.
“It comes down to a lack of courage and their interest in keeping their jobs above honoring police officers that put themselves in harm’s way to save their lives,” said Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), a former Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, remained in the House gallery as rioters pounded on the doors demanding an end to the certification of Biden's election win.
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Crow wrote a letter in January calling out Johnson and other Republicans for refusing to follow the law and install the plaque, and Democrats have accused them of trying to avoid angering president Donald Trump, who pardoned all of his supporters who stormed the Capitol trying to keep him in power after losing the 2020 election.
“The reason why the law hasn’t been complied with and a plaque hasn’t been erected is because Republicans, directed by their puppet master Donald Trump, have been told try to erase January 6 as if it has never happened,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) at a news conference last week.
A similar plaque was installed in 1999 to honor Capitol police officers Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson who were killed the previous year in the line of duty by a gunman man with a history of mental illness, and the brother of Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, who suffered two strokes and died a day after confronting the rioters, bashed the House speaker and his Republican colleagues.
“Mike Johnson of course refuses to hang it because he would have to admit that something bad happened on Jan. 6, 2021, and the Republicans don’t believe anything bad happened,” Craig Sicknick said. “They believe the calendar skipped from Jan. 5 to Jan. 7.”
Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD), whose constituents include Capitol police and D.C. police officers, said he believes Republicans are too "embarrassed" to hang the plaque.
“Jan. 6 was a low moment for democracy, certainly in America but also around the world,” Ivey said, "and it was the lowest possible moment for Donald Trump and the Republican Party.”