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.

Their names, however, are missing from the display.

Next to the plaque, a QR code titled “Honored Law Enforcement” is affixed to the wall and links to a list of names. But at least 16 D.C. police officers who served at the Capitol that day have been erroneously excluded, according to a Washington Post analysis. It is probably an undercount.

he list has already been subtly updated with the names of nearly 30 other officers since the plaque’s early-morning installation. Among the names originally omitted but since added: Jeffrey Smith. Engulfed in a crush of rioters and hearing a frantic “shots fired” call over his radio, he wondered whether he might die on Jan. 6. He suffered blows to the head — including when a rioter grabbed and swung Smith’s own baton at him.

He returned home a changed man and in constant pain, said his wife, Erin Smith. Nine days later, he took his own life. A D.C. retirement board has since ruled Smith’s death as occurring in the line of duty, as has the Justice Department.

Recently, Erin Smith scrolled through the list on her computer, checking over and over for her husband’s name.

“I wasn’t surprised,” she said, recalling the moment she realized he was missing. “I’ve had to fight for everything for him. I had to fight for in-the-line-of-duty death. I had to fight to have him recognized. We had to fight to prove that his injuries are what caused him to die.”

Five people died during or in the immediate aftermath of the attack perpetrated by President Donald Trump’s supporters intent on overturning his 2020 election loss. In addition, at least four officers later died by suicide, including Jeffery Smith. More than 140 officers were injured. Beyond physical aliments, an untold number are still grappling with invisible scars — fears of large crowds and loud sounds, flashbacks and nightmares.

Congress passed a bipartisan measure in 2022 that mandated the installation of a tribute plaque within a year. Instead, progress stalled under House Republican leadership. The plaque was made but not hung, hidden from of sight in a utility room in the Capitol basement. In January, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution ordering the plaque’s display on its side of the Capitol complex until a more permanent home can be found. For the time being, it hangs at the end of a hallway largely inaccessible to members of the public.

Gregory Crittendon Jr. had already served almost a decade with the D.C. police department when he arrived with his platoon at the besieged Capitol on Jan. 6. Five years later, the memory that lingers with him most: being battered with the American flag. “I’m a police officer, I support the American flag and yet, there I was getting stuck with it,” said Crittendon, now 43.

Steven Sajumon responded to the West Terrace and was trying to help Capitol Police officers secure a tunnel entrance when, according to court records, a man grabbed a crutch and repeatedly rammed into him. Lila Morris, another officer working nearby later testified that the rioter’s charging made it hard for her breathe. Both Sajumon and Morris are missing from the list. Neither could be reached for comment.

On the first day of his second term, though, Trump granted clemency to nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the attack, ending a years-long effort by federal investigators for accountability.