Gladys Sicknick and Sandra Garza, the mother and longtime girlfriend of late Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, respectively, shared stark criticisms of GOP Senators on Friday after Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have created an independent commission to investigate the riot at the Capitol in January. Brian Sicknick died of natural causes shortly after helping with the defense of the Capitol against the mobbing Trump supporters. Gladys Sicknick and Garza met in person with over a dozen Republican Senators prior to Friday’s vote, but the top GOP’ers in question evidently did not take what they shared to heart.
GOP senators are “all talk and no action,” mother and partner of fallen officer Brian Sicknick say after Jan. 6 commission is blocked https://t.co/hAl3YRNx1X
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 28, 2021
Garza observed in an appearance on CNN that GOP Senators who opposed creating the commission are “all talk and no action,” adding that they’re “clearly not backing the blue.” Scores of officers faced grievous injuries in the Capitol violence as they struggled against the mob of Trump’s frenzied supporters.
Gladys said on CNN that, when meeting with GOP Senators ahead of the vote on creating an investigative commission, the Senators “went through their motions, but you can tell that underneath they were being nice to us.” Insisting that certain Republican Senators “weren’t sincere,” she added as follows:
‘They were very charming, and they knew what they were doing. They knew how to talk to us. But we kind of held back. It was just — it was tense. And we just made believe, you know, everything was fine. And we were very nice to them for the most part… We knew they weren’t sincere. They weren’t sincere… I can’t believe that I have a child that’s going to be in the history books for all the wrong reasons, because he was such a good person and he was so good at his job… All these other people that are saying that it was no big deal: They went home that night to have dinner with their families. And then, did they watch television to see what happened? And they didn’t feel anything? It’s amazing to me.’
Republican excuses for opposing the commission have varied. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was reported by POLITICO to have been concerned about how the creation of an investigative commission would impact the GOP’s “midterm election message,” as the publication put it. McConnell apparently wants to get away from Trump — but the destruction that the former president caused can’t be erased with a finger snap.
