Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell appeared to have been snubbed Tuesday during the Congressional Gold Medal award ceremony for police officers who defended the US Capitol on Jan. 6.
Members of the Capitol Police and the DC Metropolitan Police Department gathered in the US Capitol Rotunda to honor law enforcement officers who fought off a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters who wanted the 2020 election overturned.
Accepting the award on behalf of the police were Capitol Police Commissioner Thomas Manger and DC Police Commissioner Robert Contee III, along with members of fallen police officer Brian Sicknick’s family.
Sicknick suffered multiple strokes and died a day after defending the US Capitol complex.
When it came time to present the medal, Sicknick’s parents and brother offered warm regards to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and his mother even kissed the New York Democrat on the cheek.
McConnell, standing next to Schumer, appeared to extend his hand — which was ignored by all of the Sicknick family members.
House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, seated to McConnell’s right, squeezed his hands tightly around the medal box he was holding. The officers’ family also did not appear to try to shake his hand.
Anti-Trump GOP Rep. Liz Cheney ignored ‘s shouted demand to respond to the snub.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and (voiceover) House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy lined up to present US Capitol Police and DC Subway Police with the Gold Medals of the… to hand over to the Congress
McConnell reached out to shake hands with the honorees, but it appears none of the six people on stage shook hands with him or McCarthy
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi presided over the solemn hour-long event on Tuesday morning
Democratic MP Eric Swalwell, who sat in the front rows, said he did not see it.
Sicknick’s mother, Gladys, in comments to CNN after the event, called McConnell “two faces” for not condemning his party’s efforts to change the Jan. 6 narrative.
“I’m just tired of them standing there and saying how wonderful the Capitol Police Department is,” she said. “And then they turn around and… go to Mar-a-Lago and kiss [Trump’s] ring the bell and come back and stand and sit here – it just hurts.’
Sicknick’s brother told NBC and a bevy of reporters that McConnell and McCarthy represent the GOP’s failure to condemn the riot — and blamed them on Republicans continuing to downplay the riot.
“It takes away everything my brother has done. It takes my brother’s heroism away,’ he said.
It was most evident when fallen officer Brian Sicknick’s family refused to accept McConnell’s open hand
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi officiated at the ceremony, her last major event as longtime leader of the Representative Democrats.
“Today, united in sorrow and gratitude, we present you with the Congressional Gold Medal: you will forever mark your heroism in our history,” Pelosi said during her speech.
“As we do so, we thank these heroes for their service and sacrifices – especially more than 140 members of our Guard who have left lasting scars and many more who suffer from indelible trauma.”
She didn’t mince words to describe the extent of the destruction that day.
“On January 6, we all witnessed the joyful desecration of our temple of democracy and a violent uprising against our republic,” Pelosi said.
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces January 6 as they erect barricades to storm the US Capitol in Washington DC
McCarthy, who also spoke, thanked the Capitol and the DC Police Department but focused his speech on the broader theme of honoring law enforcement in general.
It’s a remarkable election considering that one of his biggest spokesperson supporters, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, has claimed that those arrested that day over the storming of the Capitol were “political prisoners.”
“Today we recognize their service and sacrifice on January 6th. These brave men and women in uniform did a great job for our country – and for that we are forever grateful,” McCarthy said.
“The Capitol Police and DC Police are valued members of this community – but they are also members of another community. The Law Enforcement Community, the Law Enforcement Brotherhood.’
He continued: “To all the law enforcement officers protecting this country, thank you. Donning the badge means putting yourself at risk to protect others.”