Biden to award 12 Presidential Citizens Medals on Jan. 6
Christian Datoc
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President Joe Biden will commemorate Jan. 6 Friday by awarding the Presidential Citizens Medal, the nation’s second highest civilian honor, to 12 “individuals who made exemplary contributions to our democracy surrounding” the Capitol riot.
Friday’s ceremony will mark the first time Biden has awarded the Citizens Medal, according to White House officials, and recipients will include “Capitol Police, Metropolitan Police, election workers, and officials at the state and local level.”
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A number of the recipients, listed below, received 2022 John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage:
Jocelyn Benson: Michigan’s Secretary of State of Michigan during the 2020 election who “faced pressure from those seeking to overturn the election results, including armed protesters outside her home.”
Rusty Bowers: The Arizona House Speaker during the 2020 election for “resisting pressure from those seeking to overturn the election results.”
Harry Dunn: A 15 year veteran of the Capitol Police, “who defended the Capitol on January 6th, facing racial slurs and harassment from rioters.”
Caroline Edwards: A law enforcement officer injured on January 6. The White House notes that “even after suffering a traumatic brain injury, Officer Edwards worked to prevent rioters from entering the Capitol building.”
Michael Fanone: A former Metropolitan Police Department Officer who suffered injuries during the Capitol riot.
Ruby Freeman: An election worker in Fulton County, Georgia, during the 2020 election. “Ms. Freeman worked to ensure that the people of Georgia could vote freely and fairly, and, for simply doing her job, was forced to withstand efforts to overturn the election that targeted and threatened her and her family,” White House officials write.
Aquilino Gonell: An emigrant from the Dominican Republic and U.S. Army veteran who “served as a Capitol Police Sergeant and defended the Capitol on January 6th, suffering injuries during the attack.”
Eugene Goodman: A Capitol Police Officer who “is credited with diverting rioters from the floor of the Senate while members were still evacuating” on January 6.
Daniel Hodges: A seven-year-veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department Officer who suffered injuries while defending the Capitol on January 6.
Shaye Moss: An election worker in Fulton County, Georgia, during the 2020 election, who like her mother, Ruby Freeman, “was subjected to threats and harassment in the wake of the election.”
Al Schmidt: A former federal civil servant who served as a city commissioner on the Philadelphia County Board of Elections who “kept the vote tally going in the face of pressure and efforts to overturn the election” back in 2020.
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Biden will also posthumously award the Citizens Medal to Brian Sicknick, the former Capitol Police officer who died after sustaining injuries in the Capitol riot.