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.
