The family of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick publicly snubbed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy during the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony honoring the heroes of January 6th.
The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest award Congress can bestow for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions.
This week's event honored the fallen police officers who protected the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, the day a mob of former Republican President Donald Trump's supporters attacked the nation's seat of government on the false premise the 2020 general election had been stolen.
But Sicknick's family wanted nothing to do with the GOP leaders, refusing to shake hands with either of them. Video from the event shows McConnell offering his hand as they walked by, while McCarthy did not.
You can watch what happened in the video below.
Brian Sicknick died of a stroke after he was assaulted while responding to the attack on the Capitol. His name has become synonymous with the many police officers who suffered horrific and unprecedented trauma as they attempted to restore order and protect the seat of the nation's government on January 6.
The attack left at least five people dead and resulted in over 100 injuries to law enforcement and millions of dollars in damages.
But Republicans have opposed attempts to investigate and hold responsible those who orchestrated and participated in the attack. Both McConnell and McCarthy voted against the creation of an independent commission to investigate it.
Additionally, both lawmakers have repeated former President Trump's lies that the 2020 election was stolen.
While McConnell has sought to distance himself from Trump somewhat—and has borne the brunt of many of Trump's criticisms—he initially refused to acknowledge Democrat Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election and only changed course once it became clear that Trump's election denial had irrevocably fractured the Republican Party.
McCarthy himself was a very vocal election denier and spent weeks ahead of the attack undermining the electoral process, vowing not to certify Biden's election win. In fact, he still voted to overturn the presidential election results in the hours after the attack.
He also lied about calling for Trump to resign—even after an audio recording revealed he had done just that—and later famously reconciled with the former President at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
Many weren't surprised the Sicknicks snubbed Republican leadership—and even praised them for doing so.
The Sicknicks later told reporters they had not planned to snub McConnell and McCarthy at the event and only realized there might be a face-to-face encounter when they sat across from them as the ceremony started.
Ken Sicknick, Brian Sicknick's brother, told HuffPost that the family didn't think either lawmaker cared about honoring Sicknick or the other officers who were injured or later died as a result of the attack, saying they only gave speeches because "they were forced to" because "they were the leaders of their respective parties."
Sicknick's mother, Gladys Sicknick, has long excoriated Republicans for not backing the creation of an independent commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection. During this year's midterm elections, she appeared in an ad urging Arizona voters not to vote for GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who has repeatedly endorsed Trump's lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
