Police who defended US Capitol during January 6 riots claim memorial plaque ‘unlawfully hidden' from public

The plaque was quietly installed in the middle of the night in an area of the building 'hidden from public view'

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Two police officers who defended the US Capitol during the January 6 riots will continue their lawsuit over a plaque honouring their service that day, after it was quietly installed in an area "blocked from public view".

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Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and D.C. police officer Daniel Hodges, who sued last summer after Congress lapsed its own installation deadline, have argued the placement of the plaque continues to violate federal law.

"Honor is a social — that is, public — recognition. Hidden from all visitors, the current location is no different than the basement the plaque was kept in for years," Brendan Ballou, the pair's lawyer, wrote in court filings on Tuesday.

The plaque was quietly installed without audience at 4am on Saturday by Architect of the Capitol staff.

The plaque was hung just inside the entrance on the west front of the building - a location that does not form part of the public tour route offered through the US Capitol Visitor Center, a spokesperson confirmed.

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Ballou pointed out that the law mandated the plaque to be permanently displayed on the "western front" of the building's exterior.

He also cited law which states the names of officers should be on the plaque. The plaque does not feature individual names, but rather a list of law enforcement agencies.

House Speaker Mike Johnson's office has argued that the law was "not implementable".

Johnson had sought to aid Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, leading a group of House Republicans in Supreme Court brief supporting Texas' lawsuit contesting the results in four swing states that Joe Biden won.

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The plaque was commissioned to honour those who defended the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the building, interrupting a Congress session scheduled to certify the results of the 2020 Democratic presidential election win.

The event was widely described as an insurrection, with FBI treating it as an act of domestic terrorism.

After Trump delivered a speech encouraging supporters before the attack, the Democratic-led House of Representatives impeached him for “incitement of insurrection”, although he was later acquitted by the Senate.

In January, the Senate unanimously voted to hang the plaque to commemorate the officers.

The resolution required it to be "prominently" displayed "in a publicly accessible location in the Senate wing of the United States Capitol".

The plaque reads: "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."

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The duo wanted “to honor the women and men who saved the lives of those inside the building, and to ensure that the history of this attack on the Capitol — and on democracy — is not forgotten" with their legal proceedings, according to court records.

Dunn, who served with US Capitol Police for 15 years before leaving in 2023, said that the installation is a step in the right direction but that the requirements stipulated in the law remain unmet.

“Absent the continued pressure of litigation, it is unlikely that the plaque will ever find a permanent — and legally required — home,” the officers argued on Tuesday.