January 6 Police Officers Awarded Congressional Gold Medals; Family of Fallen Officer Refuses to Shake Hands With Republican Leaders

By Mary Webber First Posted: Dec 07, 2022 01:13 AM EST

Police officers who responded to the January 6 Capitol attack have been formally awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for guarding the complex after former President Donald Trump's supporters breached the building and engaged in a deadly assault.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi bestowed the award on Tuesday and proclaimed that the officers were in a "pantheon of patriots" for their actions that day, the New York Times reported.

Law enforcement personnel who received the highest honor of Congress were members of the Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department. Pelosi said the Capitol Police, Metropolitan Police, and other law enforcement agencies "bravely put themselves" between the lawmakers and violence.

Chief Robert Contee III of the Metropolitan Police noted that many of the officers returned for the first time to the Capitol for the ceremony, adding that many of them still bear the "physical, mental, and emotional tolls."

Four Congressional Gold Medals were reportedly issued and will be put on display at the Capitol, the Smithsonian, and the headquarters of the Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department.

Republican Leaders Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy Snubbed

The family of a deceased Capitol police officer refused to shake hands with Republican leaders Senator Mitch McConnell and Representative Kevin McCarthy during the ceremony.

Family members of Brian Sicknick attended the event. Sicknick is a U.S. Capitol Police officer who suffered strokes a day after the January 6 riot. Sicknick's parents and two brothers approached Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and shook his hand.

However, they bypassed McConnell and McCarthy as the family continued down the line of lawmakers standing in front of the podium. A medical examiner noted that Sicknick died of strokes a day after the January 6 insurrection.

Sicknick responded to the Capitol attack and was "injured while physically engaging with protesters," as announced by the Capitol Police. The statement added that Sicknick returned to his division office and collapsed. Sicknick was one of five people associated with the Capitol attack who died.

January 6 Police Officers and Families at Awarding

Gladys Sicknick, Brian Sicknick's mother, told CNN the Republican leaders are just "two-faced," adding that she is sick of them "standing there and saying how wonderful the Capitol police is, and then they turn around and go down to Mar-a-Lago and kiss" the ring of Donald Trump and come back.

Sicknick's brother, Ken, noted that the two Republican leaders have "no idea what integrity is." He added that the GOP leaders "can't stand up for what's right and wrong."

Michael Fanone, a retired D.C. Metropolitan Police officer, previously described Kevin McCarthy as "a weasel" for his actions and words after the riot. McCarthy said before the snub that "days like today force us to realize how much we owe the thin blue line," the Guardian reported.

However, Fanone, who was beaten and injured in the January 6 attack, told CNN that he was surprised McCarthy showed up as he thought the GOP lawmaker "would be busy trying to figure out how to suspend the Constitution" on behalf of Trump.

Mitch McConnell has earlier been criticized for not standing up to the former president. According to the book "Unchecked," the Republican senator vowed not to speak to Trump again after January 6 insurrection.

However, McConnell has backed away from this stance and said in April that he would support Trump again if he ran for president in 2024.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony Honors January 6 Police Officers - From ABC News