A bronze plaque was recently bolted to a quiet hallway in the U.S. Capitol, honoring law enforcement who defended the seat of American democracy on Jan. 6, 2021, when it was stormed by a violent mob.
It’s intended to mark the service of police officers like Samuel Mott, hit again and again by a man wearing a gas mask and wielding a flagpole. And Jesse Leasure, who was drenched in pepper spray and felt like his skin was on fire and as though someone had rubbed his eyeballs with sandpaper. And Carlton Wilhoit III, who said rioters left him with bruises on his forehead and yanked chunks of hair.
Their names, however, are missing from the display.
Next to the plaque, a QR code titled “Honored Law Enforcement” is affixed to the wall and links to a list of names. But at least 16 D.C. police officers who served at the Capitol that day have been erroneously excluded, according to a Washington Post analysis. It is probably an undercount.
The errors mark the latest frustration in a years-long push to hang a plaque, a process ensnared by delays, missteps and Republican-led pushback. The Post earlier this month revealed the plaque was installed at 4 a.m. without fanfare, three years behind deadline.
“It’s a slap in the face,” Wilhoit, 35, said in an interview upon learning his name was left off. “To hear that they didn’t get this right, that they didn’t take the time to fact-check everything, is very disheartening.”
The list has already been subtly updated with the names of nearly 30 other officers since the plaque’s early-morning installation. Among the names originally omitted but since added: Jeffrey Smith. Engulfed in a crush of rioters and hearing a frantic “shots fired” call over his radio, he wondered whether he might die on Jan. 6. He suffered blows to the head — including when a rioter grabbed and swung Smith’s own baton at him.
He returned home a changed man and in constant pain, said his wife, Erin Smith. Nine days later, he took his own life. A D.C. retirement board has since ruled Smith’s death as occurring in the line of duty, as has the Justice Department.
Recently, Erin Smith scrolled through the list on her computer, checking over and over for her husband’s name.
“I wasn’t surprised,” she said, recalling the moment she realized he was missing. “I’ve had to fight for everything for him. I had to fight for in-the-line-of-duty death. I had to fight to have him recognized. We had to fight to prove that his injuries are what caused him to die.”
Federal law required that a handful of congressional committees and subcommittees compile and confirm the list. As of Thursday morning, it contained 3,680 names.
The Post reviewed court records, news reports and a 2021 bill that includes a preliminary list of D.C. police officers who served at the U.S. Capitol that day. The Post also conducted interviews with current and former officers to identify missing names. It was not immediately clear why and how some officers’ names were omitted from the QR code version.
The Architect of the Capitol’s office did not respond to questions about the omissions.
Five people died during or in the immediate aftermath of the attack perpetrated by President Donald Trump’s supporters intent on overturning his 2020 election loss. In addition, at least four officers later died by suicide, including Jeffery Smith. More than 140 officers were injured. Beyond physical aliments, an untold number are still grappling with invisible scars — fears of large crowds and loud sounds, flashbacks and nightmares.
Congress passed a bipartisan measure in 2022 that mandated the installation of a tribute plaque within a year. Instead, progress stalled under House Republican leadership. The plaque was made but not hung, hidden from of sight in a utility room in the Capitol basement. In January, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution ordering the plaque’s display on its side of the Capitol complex until a more permanent home can be found. For the time being, it hangs at the end of a hallway largely inaccessible to members of the public.
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. Their heroism will never be forgotten.”
Yet the covert installation and the inaccurate tally attached to the QR code stings those who served that day, responding to the worst assault on the U.S. Capitol since the War of 1812.
Gregory Crittendon Jr. had already served almost a decade with the D.C. police department when he arrived with his platoon at the besieged Capitol on Jan. 6. Five years later, the memory that lingers with him most: being battered with the American flag. “I’m a police officer, I support the American flag and yet, there I was getting stuck with it,” said Crittendon, now 43.
Steven Sajumon responded to the West Terrace and was trying to help Capitol Police officers secure a tunnel entrance when, according to court records, a man grabbed a crutch and repeatedly rammed into him. Lila Morris, another officer working nearby later testified that the rioter’s charging made it hard for her breathe. Both Sajumon and Morris are missing from the list. Neither could be reached for comment.
After the insurrection, the Justice Department launched the largest criminal investigation in its history, meaning the assaults endured by many officers are detailed in sworn testimony and other court records. On the first day of his second term, though, Trump granted clemency to nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the attack, ending a years-long effort by federal investigators for accountability.
The plaque that now hangs in the Capitol lists almost two dozen local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Capitol Police, the National Guard and the Maryland and Virginia state police. The Post has not yet been able to verify if the names of personnel from departments other than the D.C. police are missing.
The plaque and accompanying QR code were installed by employees in the office of the Architect of the Capitol, a federal agency responsible for the Capitol grounds.
The plaque remains the subject of ongoing litigation. Last summer, former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and D.C. police officer Daniel Hodges sued the Architect of the Capitol over the installation delays. The recent installation in a quiet hallway away from the popular public tour route offered little consolation. “Hidden from all visitors, the current location is no different than the basement the plaque was kept in for years,” their attorney wrote recently in federal court filings.
Both Dunn and Hodges are named on the list linked to the accompanying QR code.
Even though a plaque can’t change what happened, an accurate tribute is important, said Mott when reached by phone and told his name was missing from the list. After the insurrection, he had multiple surgeries on his wrist. The rioter was sentenced to three years in prison for the assault, only to receive a pardon from Trump two months later.
“It matters,” Mott said of the tribute’s accuracy. “Not just for the officers but for their loved ones who had to deal with the fallout. It was a very intense, and at times traumatic experience, and there was no escaping it. It was on television, on the internet. Everywhere, bombarding us. It was not just a one-day event.”
He was struck on the Capitol’s West Terrace, not too far from the tribute supposedly honoring his service but missing his name.
Aaron Schaffer contributed to this report.
The post They defended the Capitol on Jan. 6. Their names are missing from the tribute. appeared first on Washington Post.
