Sicknick’s girlfriend: GOP decision to block Jan. 6 commission ‘speaks volumes’

The mother and girlfriend of the late Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick said they were disappointed that Republicans decided to filibuster a bill to form a bipartisan commission looking into the Jan. 6 insurrection, with his girlfriend saying the votes against the legislation speak “volumes.”

In an appearance on CNN, Gladys Sicknick, Brian Sicknick’s mother, and Sandra Garza, his girlfriend, expressed dismay that the bill was defeated, saying it would have provided more details on the Jan. 6 riot that precipitated Brian Sicknick’s death.

“A lot of them would default to the ‘Well, it’s very partisan.’ Well, that’s baloney,” said Garza. “I think they just don’t want to do the right thing.”

“I don’t understand it. They are elected for us, the people, and they don’t care about that,” Gladys Sicknick added. “They care about money, I guess, their pocketbooks. So they’ll be in front of the cameras when they feel like it. They just don’t care, and it’s not right.”

The comments from the two women followed meetings they held with various Senate Republicans lobbying them to approve the bill. In the end, only six Republicans voted with Senate Democrats to approve the legislation, falling short of the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a key hurdle.

Republicans said the commission was unnecessary given probes that are being conducted by congressional committees and voiced concerns that the panel’s findings could hurt their midterm messaging in 2022.

“I do not believe the extraneous ‘commission’ that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on the floor.

“That’s why the Speaker’s first draft began with a laughably rigged and partisan starting point and why the current language would still lock in significant unfairness under the hood,” he added on Thursday in reference to Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).  

The bill would have created a 10-member commission with the ability to appoint members evenly split between the two parties, a model based on the panel created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Brian Sicknick was seen on video fighting with rioters on Jan. 6 and being sprayed with a chemical agent. 

He died of two strokes the next day in a death a medical examiner said was due to natural causes. However, his family believes he would be alive had it not been for the insurrection.