WASHINGTON, D.C. — An Ohio lawmaker who was in the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot is introducing legislation to support law enforcement officers assaulted on federal property.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, was in the House chamber when supporters of President Donald Trump broke in on Jan. 6, 2021. Due to pandemic social distancing restrictions, she was seated in the second floor gallery rather than her normal seat on the House floor.

As rioters pounded on the door to the chamber, Kaptur and other lawmakers in the gallery took cover on the floor. They also could not exit the gallery and were trapped for 41 minutes while rioters filled the hallway outside. At one point, the lawmakers were instructed to pull emergency gas masks from under their seats.

“We were huddled on the ground. We had to go from where we were originally, which is on one side of the gallery, all the way around to the other side, to a door through which we could escape,” Kaptur said.

Four years later, President Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of all 1,600 people convicted or charged for their actions that day, including rioters who assaulted police officers.

“My immediate reaction was to draft a new bill,” said Kaptur.

The Brian Sicknick Heroic Law Enforcement Officers Protection Act is named for Brian Sicknick, a Capitol police officer who died from injuries sustained in the riot.

The bill would enhance the penalties for assaulting a law enforcement officer on federal property—up to life in prison. It would also offer health benefits for officers injured in the line of duty, as well as protective services for those who need it.

“There's been some indication that some of those who spoke out about what really happened on Jan. 6 may be followed or need protection,” Kaptur said.

In introducing the measure, Kaptur said it would hold accountable those who engage in violence against law enforcement officers in the future, even if the Jan. 6 defendants have received clemency.

The legislation comes as Senate Democrats introduce a resolution condemning the pardons.

Both measures are largely messaging bills, as they are unlikely to pass in the Republican-controlled House and Senate.

Some Democratic lawmakers have also called for legislation to limit a president’s clemency powers, both in response to Trump’s pardons and to former President Joe Biden’s pardons of his siblings and their spouses in his final hours in office.