The longtime partner of Brian Sicknick, the U.S. Capitol police officer who died after the Jan. 6 riot, is condemning Republican senators who voted against establishing a commission to investigate the violent insurrection.
Sandra Garza, along with Sicknick’s mother, Gladys, also both blame former President Donald Trump for his role and reaction during the uprising, which happened the same day Congress was set to certify the results of the most recent presidential election.
“I’m disgusted that the Republican senators, that decided to vote no,” Garza told “CBS This Morning.” “It’s a spit in the face to Brian; it’s a spit in the face to all the officers that were there that day.”
Last Friday, the Senate blocked a Democrat-led effort to establish the commission by a 54-35 vote, marking the first successful legislative filibuster during Joe Biden’s presidency.
The District of Columbia Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Sicknick suffered two strokes in the aftermath of the Capitol attack, during which he was assaulted by two men — along with two other officers — with a chemical irritant. He laid in honor in the Capitol rotunda and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Regarding Trump, Gladys Sicknick said the former president watched the riot ”on television like it was a soap opera. I don’t understand it. How can you be so uncaring?”
“And I was a person who supported Donald Trump,” Garza said. “Brian was a supporter of his. I mean, even on Brian’s Twitter page, he had Donald Trump’s personal plane in the background, as his background picture.” Garza also said Trump has not made an effort to speak with Sicknick’s loved ones.
“He knew that Brian was devoted to him, and he did not once reach out to me, to Gladys, he didn’t even send a letter of condolences. He did absolutely nothing. And so, you know, it’s very upsetting, you know, that he’s not — and I would meet with him, actually. I would. I would meet with him,” she said.
Gladys Sicknick said her son would be “appalled” by the situation today if he were still alive. “Brian was a gentle soul. He really was,” she said. “I mean, he had a work ethic that was unbelievable, but don’t push him in a corner.”
Six Republican senators voted in favor of advancing the bill: Mitt Romney (Utah), Susan Collins (Maine); Bill Cassidy (Louisiana); Rob Portman (Ohio); Lisa Murkowski (Alaska); and Ben Sasse (Nebraska). At least 10 Senate Republicans were needed to join all Democrats to advance the bill. Nine GOP senators did not cast votes on the move: Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee); Roy Blunt (Missouri); Mike Braun (Indiana); Richard Burr (North Carolina); Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma); Mike Rounds (South Dakota); James Risch (Idaho); Richard Shelby (Alabama); and Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania).
Though the Jan. 6 commission bill passed the House in May with the support of almost three dozen Republicans, GOP senators said they believe the commission would eventually be used against them politically. And former President Trump, who still has a firm hold on the party, has called it a “Democrat trap.”
While initially saying he was open to the idea of the commission, which would be modeled after an investigation of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell turned firmly against it in recent days. He has said he believes the panel’s investigation would be partisan despite the even split among party members.
The Republican opposition to the bipartisan panel has revived Democratic pressure to do away with the filibuster, a time-honored Senate tradition that requires a vote by 60 of the 100 senators to cut off debate and advance a bill. With the Senate evenly split 50-50, Democrats need support of 10 Republicans to move to the commission bill, sparking fresh debate over whether the time has come to change the rules and lower the threshold to 51 votes to take up legislation.
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