Now Reading: Democrats and Republicans point fingers over Sen. Padilla’s removal from DHS event
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Democrats and Republicans point fingers over Sen. Padilla’s removal from DHS event
Democrats and Republicans point fingers over Sen. Padilla’s removal from DHS event
“They bring this suit to compel Congress to follow its own law and install the mandated memorial, 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,” the lawsuit says.
Congress passed the law in 2022 to install the plaque on the western front of the U.S. Capitol and was signed by then-President Joe Biden. “That was over three years ago,” the suit says.
“While Congress has installed a memorial to other officers who died in a different tragedy, it has not installed the plaque to honor those who defended the Capitol on January 6,” they say. “Meanwhile, though Congress has not placed the memorial to the officers who protected it, members have managed to honor the man who inspired the violence,” referring to Trump.
Dunn and Hodges argue that by not hanging the plaque, Congress is encouraging the “rewriting of history.” “It suggests that the officers are not worthy of being recognized, because Congress refuses to recognize them.”
Brendan Ballou, lead attorney in the case and a former Jan. 6 prosecutor, said in a statement, “These plaintiffs, and the officers they stood beside, were literally the only thing that saved the democratic transfer of power that day, and democracy itself. And they saved countless lives of people inside the Capitol. The Architect of the Capitol must follow the law, and must honor these officers, to prevent history from being rewritten.”
The architect of the Capitol, Thomas E. Austin, who was selected in 2024 by a bicameral congressional commission, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
