Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), who helped clean up the mess left behind by insurrectionists who violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, is donating the suit he wore that day to the Smithsonian Institution. He tweeted the news Tuesday, exactly six months after the attack took place.

On Wednesday, Smithsonian National Museum of American History spokesperson Valeska Hilbig confirmed with DCist that it collected the congressman’s suit as part of a larger initiative to “assess now and in the future what historians and the public will know about Jan. 6, 2021.”

https://twitter.com/AndyKimNJ/status/1412399056090021889

Kim writes that he bought the suit off the rack during a J. Crew holiday sale, intending to wear it to President Joe Biden’s inauguration. On Jan. 6, he woke up to the news of Democrats winning in the Georgia elections, and he wore the suit in celebration, he says in the post.

But while he was at the Capitol to confirm the electoral college results affirming Biden’s presidency, Trump supporters, Nazi sympathizers, and white supremacists formed a violent, armed mob and stormed the building.

As insurrectionists infiltrated the Capitol, shattering windows and causing damage throughout the halls of Congress, Kim sheltered in place with a staffer. He told GQ in a first-person account that while he was used to lock downs during his time working as a diplomat in Afghanistan, he was unprepared for the chaos unleashed at the Capitol. “Those experiences were in war zones, we knew what to expect,” he said. “This time we didn’t know what was going on.”

Once police had secured the Capitol and staffers could finally emerge, Kim said he was shocked by the volume of broken furniture, glass, flags, and body armor scattered across the floor of the rotunda. He knelt down to clean up the trash and a few Capitol Police officers joined, while a photographer nearby captured a photo that went viral:

https://twitter.com/andyharnik/status/1347081059805106176

Hilbig, of the Smithsonian, said the institution’s rapid response team collected items from the Capitol on Jan. 7, but she added that there are no immediate plans to display the materials just yet.

In his Twitter post, Kim writes that when he got home, he first wanted to throw the suit away; but people started sending him cards from across the country, expressing how important it was to see the image of him lending a hand during such an uncertain time.

“I never expected the Smithsonian or frankly anyone to find meaning in the suit I wore on January 6, but the responses — thousands of letters and emails — show how much people were looking for something positive after that day,” Rep. Kim tells DCist in an emailed statement. “The suit however is just a symbol. The image of me cleaning up is only as powerful as our ability to finish the job, to understand why the events of that day happened, and make sure it never happens again.”

Kim last wore the blue suit on Jan. 13, when he went to cast his vote to impeach former President Donald Trump. It was still covered in dust.

The Smithsonian called the New Jersey congressman later that month to request the suit while he was driving on I-95. He pulled over, “tearing up uncontrollably,” Kim writes.

He continues, “I told the Smithsonian ‘yes’ to donating the blue suit because the telling of the story of Jan. 6 isn’t optional, it is necessary.”

In the months since the insurrection, Kim and other Democrats have pushed for an independent investigation into the events of Jan. 6 and criticized Republican lawmakers who have blocked those efforts.

Kim finished his post by saying he believes the Smithsonian will carry on the story of what happened during that fatal day and its impact on the country.

“It’ll be surreal to one day take my kids to the Smithsonian and show them the blue suit behind glass. I hope they grow to know the truth of Jan 6., but I also hope the story ultimately is one of hope and resilience,” he writes. “I hope that is what they and others see in the blue suit.”