It is a Washington Post exclusive. They must have been tipped off. They clearly had a reporter there at 4 a.m. Saturday morning, when two employees of the Architect of the Capitol finally did the deed. First, they wheeled the plaque, which was stored in plywood, across the stone basement floor and then raised it with a jack table to fix it in place near an entrance on the west front of the Capitol.

Congress had passed a law in March 2022 mandating the installation of a memorial plaque in honor of the law enforcement agencies that defended the Capitol — and our democracy — on Jan. 6. The plaque was supposed to be installed within the year. It wasn't. It sat in the basement, surrounded by maintenance equipment. Democrats agitated, saying that the Speaker had failed to instruct the Architect to install it. According to the Post, a spokesperson for the House Speaker claimed the project was "not implementable," leading some members to mount copies of the plaque on their office doors.

It's all part of the Trump administration's desperate attempt to rewrite history.

It wasn't just the Capitol that was threatened on Jan. 6. It was our democracy. "Turn on your television," I remember my friend calling me. The scene was unbelievable. We witnessed it. A mob looking to hang the vice president and subvert the counting of ballots. Members of Congress hiding for their lives. Police officers putting their lives on the line. It was that close. We should never forget it.

If this administration has its way, we will never remember it.

Last summer, while the plaque was still sitting in the basement, two former U.S. Capitol Police officers brought suit against the Architect to force the installation of the memorial, which is supposed to be hung on the west front of the Capitol. In January, senators forced through a resolution ordering the display on the Senate side of the Capitol "until the plaque can be placed in its permanent location." Thus, the early dawn installation — with no ceremony, no announcement and very little press temporary installation.

Five people died on Jan. 6 and in the aftermath. One of them was a 42-year-old officer who suffered two strokes and died the next day. The injured included more than 140 officers, and four later died by suicide.

We should never forget how close we came to losing our democracy. And we should never forget how we came that close. President Donald Trump brought us to the brink. He has called Jan. 6 a day of love. He continued, then and now, to claim he had won the election, when every court to hear his claims rejected them. He treated the rioters as patriots, pardoning 1,600 people who were involved in attempting to overthrow our democracy on his first day in office. So much for accountability. Then, to add insult to injury, on the fifth anniversary of Jan. 6, the Trump administration unveiled a new website claiming that the Capitol Police had "turned a peaceful demonstration into chaos."

The Capitol Police are the heroes of this story, not the villains. They deserve more than a plaque in a temporary location, installed in secret at 4 in the morning.

To find out more about Susan Estrich and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Andrew Neel at Unsplash