CNN
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The family of US Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick said Wednesday that the snub of GOP leaders during a congressional gold medal ceremony was not for partisan reasons, but an “integrity issue.”
“We were talking about saying something and then we said, ‘No, I think the best way is to ignore them.’ And we had no idea it was going to blow up like this. We just – we really weren’t. And I’m glad he did because I think it made them think about what they do,” said Gladys Sicknick, Brian’s mother, on “CNN This Morning.”
“Just sitting in the senators’ offices and looking at the pictures of their family behind them and thinking, ‘You know, what do they do when they go home? What do they say to their children and grandchildren when they go home? You know, what kind of country will this be? Would they like to live in a country they made?’” said Gladys Sicknick.
Craig Sicknick, one of Brian’s brothers, said it wasn’t hard to snub the lawmakers.
“I really don’t respect people who have no integrity. Which is – this is not a partisan issue, this is an integrity issue. They took an oath to defend and uphold the Constitution. And when someone challenges him, like Trump, they do nothing,” said Craig Sicknick. “Their silence is deafening. Or worse, they’re doing the same policies and lies that caused the uprising. ”
On Tuesday, Brian Sicknick and other law enforcement with the US Capitol Police and DC Metropolitan Police Department were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal – the highest honor that Congress can bestow – for protecting the US Capitol during an uprising 6 January. Sicknick suffered strokes and died of natural causes one day after the uprising. When they accepted the gold medal for him, Sicknick’s family refused to shake hands with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell or House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Gladys Sicknick previously told CNN that she didn’t shake her hands because, “They’re just two faces.”
“I’m tired of them standing there and saying how great the Capitol Police are and then they turn around and … go down to Mar-a-Lago and kiss his ring and come back and stand here and sit with him – it’s just, it hurts,” she said, referring to former President Donald Trump.
McConnell has criticized Trump in the past and criticized him for actions during the Jan. 6 uprising, and McCarthy has visited the former president at his Mar-a-Lago estate several times.
The Senate minority leader was asked about the snub and told reporters after the ceremony on Tuesday, “I would respond by saying today that we gave the gold medal to heroes on January 6th. We respect and appreciate them. They put their lives on the line and that’s why we gave a gold medal today to the heroes of January 6.”
Asked if she had a message for McConnell and McCarthy, Gladys Sicknick told CNN on Wednesday, “I don’t know how they can stand there and talk to the press, talk to the cameras and say what they do and knowing what they have. done in the past.”
