Democrats renew calls for Jan. 6 memorial in Capitol
Ryan King
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A bevy of House Democrats is renewing calls for the formation of a memorial of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Over a dozen Democrats have backed calls for the establishment of a memorial in the Capitol building under the Capitol Remembrance Act to remember the “defining moment” for America’s democracy and to honor the heroes of the riot. Congress marked the riot’s second anniversary earlier this month.
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“Two years after January 6th, we see one of the darkest chapters of our nation’s history as democracy’s defining moment — not its last,” Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), who sponsored the legislation, said, according to a Fox News report. “As leaders responsible for these attacks spread extremism here and beyond our borders, we must be very clear. The best of America was there and will always rise to uphold our democracy.”
Crow introduced the bill during the prior Congress with a dozen other sponsors and co-sponsors, including Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA), to require the Architect of the Capitol to construct an exhibit highlighting photos and other records from the ransacking of the Capitol. That bill was not voted on and does not appear to have gained any traction since.
Some of the people who would be honored in the memorial include law enforcement personnel such as U.S. Capitol Police officers Brian Sicknick and Howard Liebengood, who died after the riot. Sicknick’s death appears to have been related to two strokes he suffered around the time of the riot, according to a medical examiner. Liebengood died of suicide days after Jan. 6.
Others who would be honored include Capitol staff who scrambled to “restore the Capitol complex” in the wake of the attack, as well as Metropolitan Police Department officers Gunther Hashida, Jeffrey Smith, and Kyle DeFreytag, all of whom died of suicide following the attack.
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Democrats previously convened the House Jan. 6 committee to conduct a sweeping investigation of the events surrounding the riot, which concluded during the last Congress. The committee issued criminal referrals for former President Donald Trump and several of his allies, but so far, the Justice Department has declined to take action.
Special counsel Jack Smith has been spearheading the DOJ’s Jan. 6-related inquiries and coinciding efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump has denied wrongdoing. At least 940 people have been charged in the Jan. 6 attack, including more than 500 who have been sentenced, per the Associated Press.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) made a handshake deal with the conservative flank of his caucus to release all the footage from the riot, which is expected to shine additional light on how the riot unfolded.