The mother of US Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick has asked to meet with Republican Senators on Thursday, before a vote to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
That legislation at the moment is not expected to clear the Senate because only two Republicans, Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski, have indicated they would support it. Ten GOP votes are needed to clear the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to pass the bill.
In a statement obtained by CNN, Gladys Sicknick explained how her son Brian died the day after the Insurrection. She directly blames his death on the actions of those who stormed the Capitol the day before. Brian Sicknick died a day after the attack, and a medical examiner ruled last month he died of a series of strokes, deemed to be natural causes.
But police released surveillance video last month which showed Sicknick and others being hit with a chemical spray during the riot. The Justice Department has charged more than 400 people in connection with the Insurrection.
In the statement, Gladys Sicknick wrote that not creating a Jan. 6 commission would be a “slap in the face” to all the officers who put their lives on the line that day to protect members of Congress. She also made a point of expressing her disbelief at the comments from Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde, who earlier this month tried to whitewash the deadly riot by saying it looked like a normal tourist visit to the Capitol.
“He and his fellow officers fought for hours and hours against those animals who were trying to take over the Capitol Building and our Democracy, as we know it. While they were fighting, congressmen and senators were locking themselves inside their offices. According to some who were barricaded in their offices said it looked like tourists walking through the Capitol. Really?”
Gladys Sicknick
It is not known if Republican senators will meet with Sicknick before they vote on the bill.