A bronze art installation depicting a pile of feces on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk appeared on the National Mall near the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, surprising and amusing passersby.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
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.
“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.
