By Michael Kunzelman
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Two of the police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to compel Congress to install a memorial to the attack.
The officers claim the failure to install the memorial plaque on the Capitol reflects an effort by President Donald Trump and his congressional allies to “rewrite the history” of the Jan. 6 riot.
“Even those who recognized the violence of the day eventually partnered with the man who both inspired and minimized it,” the suit says.
More than 100 law enforcement officers were injured in the attack. Hundreds of people were convicted of crimes connected to the incident, but Trump cleared all of the cases in an act of clemency on his first day back in the White House.
In 2022, Congress passed a law directing the Architect of the Capitol to install a memorial honoring the officers on duty during the incident. The deadline for installing it passed roughly two years ago.
In April, Architect of the Capitol Thomas Austin told a House subcommittee that House Speaker Mike Johnson had not instructed him to install the plaque. The speaker is responsible for any modifications to the House side of the Capitol, Austin noted.
Spokespeople for Austin’s office and Johnson didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit’s plaintiffs — Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges and former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn — have been outspoken critics of the attack and any efforts to justify it.
“Both men live with psychic injuries from that day, compounded by their government’s refusal to recognize their service,” the suit says.
Hodges was nearly crushed in a door frame during a battle for control of a tunnel entrance. Rioters ripped a gas mask off his face and dislodged his helmet.
Dunn left the Capitol police before running an unsuccessful campaign for a House seat in Maryland last year, losing in the Democratic primary. Dunn has said rioters yelled racial slurs at him during the siege.
Hodges and Dunn joined Rep. Jamie Raskin in the Maryland Democrat’s office on Thursday to discuss the memorial and their lawsuit. Raskin said he placed a poster replica of the plaque outside his office and is encouraging his colleagues to do the same until Johnson complies with the law.
Dunn said they tried applying political pressure and “asking nicely” for the memorial to be installed.
“It didn’t work,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that we had to file a lawsuit to compel Congress to follow their own law, but here we are.”
