WASHINGTON — In a ceremony usually reserved for lawmakers and statesmen, a police officer lies in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

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William “Billy” Evans is the second police officer in the last three months to be placed in the heart of the Capitol he was tasked to protect and lost his life defending, The Washington Post reported.

Evans was killed earlier this month when a driver intentionally drove his car into a steel barricade near the Russell Senate Office Building.

The driver was shot and later died, NPR reported.

He was only the sixth Capitol Police Officer killed in the line of duty in the history of the law enforcement organization, NPR reported.

>> Related: Who was William Evans, the police officer killed in US Capitol incident?

Evans was carried into the building from the East Front entrance Tuesday morning. A tribute by members of Congress was be held by invitation only, the Post reported.

Capitol Police Officers, along with other members of Congress, will pay their respects starting at noon and will run through the afternoon. At 6:30 p.m. there will be a departure ceremony.

President Joe Biden is also in attendance, NPR reported.

He said that Evans was defined “by his dignity, his decency, his loyalty and his courage,” USA Today reported.

“It is our hope that this tribute will be a comfort” to his family, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement, the Post reported.

Pelosi, during Tuesday’s ceremony, called the officer, “a martyr for our democracy,” USA Today reported.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) remembered Evans on the Senate floor Monday before the ceremony, that the officer could not have been “a more faithful protector to keep us safe.”

“Billy was the best father, son, brother and friend anyone could ever hope for,” his family said in a statement. “His death has left a gaping void in our lives that will never be filled.”

Cox Media Group