Relatives of late U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick appeared to disregard Republican Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy at the Tuesday ceremony awarding police the Congressional Gold Medal for their response to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots.
Congress presented the Gold Medal to “the United States Capitol Police, the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police and the heroes of January 6th” for working to protect the Capitol that day. Members of Sicknick’s family greeted Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer during the ceremony before walking by McConnell and McCarthy without shaking their hands.
During Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for Jan. 6 police, representatives of those receiving awards shake hands with Schumer then walk past McConnell and McCarthy. pic.twitter.com/YGjKXRGtiZ
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) December 6, 2022
McConnell and McCarthy spoke against the proposed formation of a Congressional Jan. 6 investigative commission in 2021. The House Jan. 6 Select Committee formed later that year.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid specific tribute at the Tuesday ceremony to Sicknick, who died of natural causes while defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, and Officers Howie Liebengood and Jeffery Smith, who died by suicide after responding to the riots. She also acknowledged late U.S. Capitol Police Officer Billy Evans, who suffered fatal injury in April 2021 when a man rammed his car into the Capitol checkpoint where Evans was stationed. (RELATED: Paul Pelosi Fist Bumps Joe Biden In First Public Appearance Since Attack)
McCarthy and McConnell both spoke at the ceremony, as seen in a CBS New YouTube livestream, honoring police officers’ bravery on Jan. 6.
“When an unhinged mob tried to come between the Congress and our constitutional duty, the Capitol Police fought to defend not just this institution, but our system of self-government,” McConnell said.
McConnell and McCarthy’s offices did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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