The Senate voted to award Medals of Honor to the Congressional Police and the Metropolitan Police Department in recognition of their protection of Congress during the epidemic. Uprising on January 6, Send the legislation to the president Joe Biden For his signature.
The bill was passed by voice vote without objection, and four medals will be displayed at the Capitol Police Headquarters, the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Capitol and the Smithsonian Institution.
Hundreds of police officers from the two police departments responded to the attack and dozens of people were beaten and injured as a mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters pushed them away and broke into the building and interrupted Biden’s proof of victory. The police and the National Guard finally cleared the building and restarted counting.
Four military officers committed suicide after responding to the riots in the U.S. Capitol
The chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, Amy Klobuchar, said in an interview with the Associated Press that these medals “will be displayed so that people can understand and remember what these officials have done.” aisle.
When introducing the legislation, Klobuchar said that future children will be able to walk through the Smithsonian Museum to see the medals, and their parents will tell them: “It happened, this attack happened.”
After 21 House Republicans voted against the measure in June, the Senate passed the bill, and some of them opposed the reference to “mob mob” in the bill. Trump and many Republicans who remain loyal to him downplayed the riot and tried to rename it a peaceful protest, although the law enforcement agencies that responded that day described the violence in detail and clearly stated the damage it caused them. Last week, four police officers gave touching testimony on their physical and psychological injuries in Congress.
No Senate Republicans opposed. The top Republican of the Senate Rules Group and Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, said the medals recognize “selflessness, dedication, and willingness to stand in a dangerous path.” Blunt said he hoped they would send a “clear message” to the two departments to express gratitude.
During and after the riots, at least nine people died there, including a woman who was shot to death by police while trying to break into the House of Representatives, and three other Trump supporters who suffered a medical emergency. In the following days, two police officers committed suicide, and the third police officer Brian Siknick fell to the ground after contacting the protesters. A forensic doctor determined that he died of natural causes.
This week, the Metropolitan Police Department announced that two other police officers who had responded to the uprising had committed suicide. Officer Kyle DeFreytag was found dead on July 10, and Officer Gunther Hashida was found dead at home on Thursday.
The police said in a statement: “We are saddened as a department.”
Although it is not yet clear what caused their deaths, lawmakers praised their services on January 6. Senator Susan Collins of Maine said before the bill passed that her heart was with the families of the officers who took them. Their own lives.
U.S. Congressional Riot: Police who endured violence from the riot testified for the first time
“I hope that each of us can take time today to thank these brave men and women who worked hard to ensure our safety. Many of them are still suffering the physical and emotional trauma of that dark day in our country’s history., “Collins said.
Klobuchar said she did not know the cause of the deaths of the two police officers in July, but said that “it was not a coincidence at some point.”
She said these suicides were “just a sadder and tragic story about those who were there to protect us who apparently suffered that day”. “It affects people.”
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Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
© 2021 Canadian Press
