The family of a Capitol Police officer who died the day after he fended off the rioters on January 6 refused to shake the hand of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) at a ceremony honoring those who defended lawmakers as the mayhem unfolded throughout that day.
“The family of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick — his mother, father and brother — refused to shake hands with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy at a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony honoring the police departments that worked to save the U.S. Capitol during the riot,” reported CBS News.
Video of the moment showed Sicknick’s family shaking the hand of Democrat Senate Majority Chuck Schumer (NY) and then refusing to shake the hands of Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy as they humbly offered their condolences.
Despite initial reports, Sicknick did not die during the Capitol Hill riot but a day later after suffering multiple strokes.
Speaking to CBS News after the encounter, Ken Sicknick, Brian’s brother, said that Republican leaders “have no idea what integrity is.”
“They came out right away and condemned what happened on January 6, and whatever hold that Trump has on them, they’ve back-stepped, they’ve danced, they won’t admit to wrongdoing, not necessarily them, themselves, but of Trump, of the rioters,” said Ken Sicknick. “I mean, people like Louie Gohmert, who presented an American flag that was flown over the Capitol to a Jan. 6 rioter and told them they were a patriot. It’s disgusting. Takes away everything my brother’s done. Takes away the heroism my brother showed.”
“You don’t think they deserved a handshake in this context?” asked the reporter.
“No,” both Ken Sicknick and his father responded.
Ken Sicknick did sing the praises of one Republican: Liz Cheney.
“Unlike Liz Cheney, they have no idea what integrity is, they can’t stand up for what’s right and wrong. Liz gave up her political career to do what was right,” he said.
Mitch McConnell sharply condemned the rioters on January 6 and even earned a standing ovation when he returned to the Senate to certify the presidential election. Days later, McConnell took it even a step further to say that former President Donald Trump “provoked” a mob in his assertions that the 2020 election had been stolen.
“The mob was fed lies,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. “They were provoked by the president and other powerful people. And they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.”
Contrary to Sicknick’s claims, even nearly two years after the riot, McConnell has not suddenly warmed himself to Trump and even said the former president would have a difficult path to the White House in 2024. The Sicknicks refused to shake hands with two GOP lawmakers who outright condemned the rioters on January 6.
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