McCarthy, McConnell snubbed by Capitol Police and their people at medal ceremony

Soon after becoming awarded the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol for their heroism through the Jan. 6, 2021, riot staged by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, police officers and their household members pointedly refused to shake fingers with the two maximum-ranking Republican lawmakers, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Household Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Outgoing Household Speaker Nancy Pelosi presided in excess of the ceremony, which bestowed four collective medals, the maximum honor specified by Congress, to the Capitol Law enforcement officers current that working day.

“Exactly 23 months ago, our nation suffered the most staggering assault on democracy since the Civil War,” Pelosi reported at the ceremony, which was also attended by Senate Vast majority Leader Chuck Schumer. “Jan. 6 was a day of horror and heartbreak. It is also a minute of incredible heroism. Staring down lethal violence and despicable bigotry, our law enforcement officers bravely stood in the breach, ensuring that democracy survived on that dark working day.”

McCarthy and McConnell also provided praise for the officers.

“To all the law enforcement officers who retain this place safe and sound: thank you,” McCarthy said. “Too several people just take that for granted, but times like today power us to understand how significantly we owe the skinny blue line.”

“Thank you for acquiring our backs. Thank you for conserving our region. Thank you for not only being our pals but our heroes,” McConnell explained all through the ceremony.

The deaths of five law enforcement officers are blamed on the Jan. 6 attack, two of these by suicide in the times that followed it. Four Trump supporters also died in the violence that day, which include Ashli Babbitt, who was killed in clashes with Capitol Police shortly soon after breaching the Capitol building. Two some others died of coronary heart attacks, and one particular from acute methamphetamine intoxication.

In the wake of the attack on the Capitol, whose target was to prevent the tranquil transfer of electricity from Trump to Joe Biden, both equally McConnell and McCarthy sharply criticized the former president for his position in seeking to overturn the 2020 election effects that day. But neither gentleman voted to impeach or convict Trump, earning the derision of quite a few Capitol Police officers and their households.

Tale carries on

“They’re just two-faced,” Gladys Sicknick, the mom of fallen Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, spelled out, when questioned by CNN why she didn’t shake the hands of McConnell and McCarthy. She included that she was angered by the Republicans praising the officers in one particular minute, only to travel to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort to “kiss his ring” soon just after.

McCarthy, who is aiming to triumph Pelosi as speaker now that Republicans have regained command of the Residence of Associates, traveled to Trump’s Florida property and country club on Jan. 28, 2021, regardless of Trump’s unrelenting promotion of the untrue claim that he had missing the 2020 election because of voter fraud.

The conference angered Republicans who experienced voted to impeach Trump, like Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming. “He’s not just a former president. He provoked an assault on the Capitol, an assault on our democracy,” Cheney instructed NBC Information. “And so I are not able to comprehend why you would want to go rehabilitate him.”

Cheney went on to serve as the vice chair of the Residence Jan. 6 select committee investigating the assault on the Capitol.

McCarthy tried to appoint Republican lawmakers to the committee who were sympathetic to Trump, but Pelosi rejected two of his five nominations — Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banking institutions of Indiana. McCarthy, Jordan and Banks were being among the the 139 Republicans in the Home who voted to obstacle the Electoral University effects in Pennsylvania, even immediately after the professional-Trump mob had been cleared from the Capitol.

Very last 7 days, McCarthy indicated in a letter to the chair of the Residence Jan. 6 committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss out on., that House Republicans would launch a new investigation of the committee by itself.

“You have invested a yr and a 50 % and thousands and thousands of taxpayers’ bucks conducting this investigation. It is imperative that all information collected be preserved not just for institutional prerogatives but for transparency to the American men and women,” McCarthy wrote. “The American folks have a correct to know that the allegations you have manufactured are supported by the facts and to be in a position to check out the transcripts.”

Just before Republicans retake command of the chamber, however, the Jan. 6 committee is planning to concern felony referrals to the Division of Justice “focused on the primary organizers and leaders of the assaults,” a resource advised CNN.

The households of the officers honored Tuesday noted that McCarthy’s choice to look into the Jan. 6 committee also influenced their selection to not to shake his or McConnell’s hand.