Updated October 31, 2024 at 08:19 AM ET
It started with the poop desk.
An unusual bronze sculpture appeared on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., last week: a replica of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk, topped with her nameplate, a landline phone, Post-it Notes, file folders and a perfectly swirled pile of feces, a la poop emoji.
“This memorial honors the brave men and women who broke into the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 to loot, urinate and defecate throughout those hallowed halls in order to overturn an election,” reads the plaque on the pedestal below.
The National Park Service originally granted a permit to a group called Civic Crafted LLC to display the statue until Wednesday evening, but later extended it an extra week through the evening of Nov. 6 — the day after Election Day. NPR has reached out to the woman named in the permit.
According to the permit shared with NPR, the statue is called The Resolute Desk and is meant to represent the heart of democracy.
"Here, the power of the people finds its expression through the diligent efforts of those who serve the public good," it says. "When rioters broke in to destroy these ideals, this desk stands firm, so too must the principles of equality, justice and freedom that it represents."
The installation stands in direct view of the building that supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed on Jan. 6, threatening the peaceful transition of power and forcing a panicked evacuation of the nation’s leaders.
Four people died at the Capitol that day. A Capitol Police officer who had fought back the rioters died the following day, and several other officers who had been on duty died by suicide in the ensuing months. The riot caused some $1.5 million in damage to the building, and members of Congress have said that some of the participants urinated and defecated inside.
One of them appears to have been Francis Connor, a Brooklyn resident who is among the more than 1,500 people charged so far in connection with Jan. 6.
“I was in the Capitol … And I pooped in pelosis [sic] desk,” Connor messaged a group chat in the days after the insurrection, according to court filings. “Come lock me up there’s nothing to live for if trump isn’t in office.”
He was sentenced in September 2022 to 12 months in prison. Another rioter, an Arkansas man who was photographed propping his feet on a desk in Pelosi’s office, was sentenced in 2023 to more than four years.
Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2023 for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and investigations by special counsel Jack Smith and the House Jan. 6 committee have concluded that his actions and rhetoric are to blame for the Capitol riot.
But Trump has downplayed the violent assault — and his role in it — during his time on the campaign trail, even calling Jan. 6 “a day of love” at a Univision town hall earlier this month. He has repeatedly spoken highly of the rioters and said he would pardon them if reelected.
“President Trump celebrates these heroes of January 6th as ‘unbelievable patriots’ and ‘warriors,’” the poop statue plaque adds. “This monument stands as a testament to their daring sacrifice and lasting legacy.”
Mike Litterst, the chief of communications for National Mall and Memorial Parks, told NPR via email that permits are required for organized activities in areas administered by the National Park Service to protect park resources and public safety.
"The National Park Service does not consider the content of the message to be presented," he added.
The statue drew mixed reactions — and much photographing — from passersby.
Jeff Parcells-Johnson, who biked to D.C. from Alexandria, Va., to check out the statue, told NPR he thinks it's "a great juxtaposition to what Trump thinks this was" and just flat-out funny. Kristen Hartke, a trained artist and former D.C. resident — who lived just blocks from the Capitol on Jan. 6 — agrees.
"I think I would interpret the message as being pretty facetious, and clearly that visual that they have with this piece of art is showcasing that," Hartke added.
The sculpture appears to have ruffled at least some feathers. Last weekend, just days after its arrival, people noticed Pelosi’s nameplate and some of the letters on the plaque had suddenly gone missing.
Then, on Monday, another statue appeared.
A tiki torch statue rises near the White House
The new statue — which the permit shows was granted to the same group behind the desk — made its debut this week in Freedom Plaza, an area along Pennsylvania Avenue just blocks from the White House.
The bronze-colored statue depicts a fist clutching a tiki torch, an object that took on additional symbolism after white nationalists carried them as they marched through Charlottesville, Va., at the “Unite the Right” rally in August 2017.
The plaque on the 97-inch-tall sculpture, titled The Donald J. Trump Enduring Flame, makes reference to that very event.
“This monument pays tribute to President Donald Trump and the ‘very fine people’ he boldly stood to defend when they marched in Charlottesville, Virginia,” it reads.
White supremacists marched through the University of Virginia’s campus at night, chanting, “Jews will not replace us.” The following day they rallied downtown around a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which the city had voted to remove. Clashes between the marchers and counter-protesters quickly turned violent, prompting the governor to eventually declare a state of emergency.
One demonstrator rammed his car into the crowd, injuring dozens of people and killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Two state police officers who had been monitoring the scene died in a helicopter crash.
Trump has defended and downplayed the actions of the white supremacists who marched that day, saying in the immediate aftermath that there were “very fine people on both sides.” President Biden repeatedly said on the 2020 campaign trail that it was that moment that had pushed him to return to politics.
Like the poop statue, the tiki torch refers to Trump’s role in an episode of recent history that many consider shameful and that Democrats have tried to use against him as he runs for reelection.
“While many have called them white supremacists and neo-nazis, President Trump’s voice rang out above the rest to remind all that they were ‘treated absolutely unfairly,’ ” the plaque adds. “This monument stands as an everlasting reminder of that bold proclamation.”
“Everlasting” may be a stretch. The permit that the Park Service granted to Civic Crafted LLC only allows the tiki torch to remain in place until Thursday — just days before Election Day.
NPR's Mia Venkat contributed reporting.
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