A number of items from last week’s deadly Capitol riots will end up at the Smithsonian, according to officials.
Images of pro-Trump rioters storming the Capitol Building sent shockwaves around the world. The violence left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer, and sparked a high-tech FBI manhunt for suspects involved in the riot.
Some items from the riot will be preserved by Smithsonian curators. “As curators from the museum’s Division of Political and Military History continue to document the election of 2020, in the midst of a deadly pandemic, they will include objects and stories that help future generations remember and contextualize Jan. 6 and its aftermath,” said the National Museum of American History’s Elizabeth Macmillan Director Anthea M. Hartig, in a statement released on Jan. 8.
In her statement, Hartig cited comments by Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III who said that “as a historian, I have always believed in the power of peaceful protest. [The day’s] demonstrations give us a glimpse of the fragility of our democracy and why the work we do and the stories we tell are so important.”
The Smithsonian statement did not specify what items from the riot will enter its collection, although the Washington Post reports that a sign reading “Off with their heads: Stop the steal,” pro-insurrection stickers and flags found inside the Capitol have been collected.
The Committee on House Administration, which is chaired by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and handles oversight of federal elections and day-to-day operations of the House of Representatives, is reportedly involved in the preservation of items.
A spokesperson for the committee told the Washington Post that items such as the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s damaged nameplate will be preserved in the House and Senate collections and shared with national museums. This will include the Smithsonian museums, according to the spokesperson.
The Committee on House Administration has not yet responded to requests for comment on this story from Fox News.
