Family members of Capitol Police officers made a point to refuse to shake hands with Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and House minority leader Kevin McCarthy during an awards ceremony earlier this week.
The officers were celebrating being awarded with Congressional Gold Medals, the highest expression of national appreciation awarded from Congress, for their defense of the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said during the ceremony:
“Exactly 23 months ago, our nation suffered the most staggering assault on democracy since the Civil War. Jan. 6 was a day of horror and heartbreak. It is also a moment of extraordinary heroism. Staring down deadly violence and despicable bigotry, our law enforcement officers bravely stood in the breach, ensuring that democracy survived on that dark day.”
While both McConnell and McCarthy publicly condemned the attack and then-President Donald Trump in the days that followed Jan. 6, neither of them voted to hold Trump accountable during his impeachment trial. Both lawmakers also attempted to block a congressional investigation into the attacks and Trump’s role in inciting them.
The officers and their relatives did shake hands with majority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, but passed by McConnell and his outstretched hand, while McCarthy held onto a box containing a ceremonial medal with both hands.
The family of one of the fallen Capitol offices, Brian Sicknick, later shared why the snubbed the Republic lawmakers, calling it an “integrity issue:”
Sicknik’s mother Gladys told CNN:
“We were talking about saying something and then we said, ‘No, I think the best way is to just ignore them.’ And we had no idea it was going to blow up like this. We just – we really didn’t. And I’m glad it did because I think it made them think about what they do.”
“Just sitting in the senators’ offices and looking at the pictures of their families behind them and thinking, ‘You know, what do they do when they go home? What do they say to their children and their grandchildren when they go home? You know, what kind of country is this going to be? Do they really want them to live in a country of their making?’”
Sicknick’s brother, one of Brian’s brothers, said the snub was easy to do:
“I really do not hold respect for people who have no integrity. Which is what – this is not a partisan issue, this is an integrity issue. They took an oath to defend and uphold the Constitution. And when somebody challenges it, like Trump, they do nothing. Their silence is deafening. Or worse they keep perpetrating the same policies and lies that caused the insurrection to happen.”
