Pallone Commemorates Anniversary of January 6 Insurrection, Demands an End to Republicans’ Efforts to Rewrite History

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Frank Pallone (6th District of New Jersey)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) today remembered the fifth anniversary of the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the United States Capitol, and urged President Trump and Speaker Johnson to end their campaign of historical revisionism.

Pallone has long condemned efforts by Trump and House Republicans to misrepresent or diminish the significance of the attacks, arguing such efforts show flagrant disrespect for democracy, the rule of law, and the law enforcement officers who uphold them.

“Five years ago today, violent domestic terrorists attempted to silence the voice of the American people and prevent the representatives they elected to Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election. The attacks on our rule of law have only continued,” said Pallone. “President Trump has subverted and ignored Congress time and time again. His attempts to rewrite the history of this shameful day—by downplaying its significance and pardoning its perpetrators—are an insult to the nearly 250 years of continuous representative democracy that this Administration claims to celebrate.”

“Lying about what happened and setting violent criminals free is an insult to the brave law enforcement officers who were injured or killed on that day,” Pallone continued. “This includes Officer Brian Sicknick, a son of Middlesex County, who laid down his life to protect democracy. Republicans claim to support ‘law and order,’ but they continue to betray law enforcement officers by handing out get-out-of-jail-free cards to the terrorists who assaulted them.”

Pallone has led his New Jersey and Democratic colleagues in condemning Speaker Johnson and President Trump for their efforts to stifle remembrance of the January 6 insurrection. He unequivocally condemned President Trump’s release of Julian Khater—the insurrectionist who assaulted Officer Sicknick—as well as the mass pardoning and release of over 1,500 rioters convicted for their role in the attacks.

At the same time, Pallone has also demanded Speaker Johnson follow the law and display a memorial plaque honoring Sicknick and other law enforcement personnel who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6. The official plaque specifically names the New Jersey State Police alongside the U.S. Capitol Police, the Metropolitan Police Department of D.C. and others.

Despite overwhelming bipartisan votes in both chambers of Congress, and a law signed by President Biden in 2022, Speaker Johnson continues to defy it by blocking the installation of the plaque on the western front of the Capitol. A replica of the plaque continues to hang outside Pallone’s office.

“This half-decade of denial and hypocrisy must end now,” Pallone concluded. “Today, I stand with the families of the injured and deceased law enforcement heroes, and all Americans who seek to preserve our democracy, and call on Trump and Republicans to end their crusade against remembrance of the January 6th insurrection.”

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