House speaker drama overshadows Jan. 6 ceremony marking two-year anniversary
Virginia Aabram
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House Democrats held a remembrance ceremony for the officers harmed in the line of duty on the two-year anniversary of the Capitol riot while congressional reporters remained transfixed on the fourth day of the House speaker’s race.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) commemorated the service of the officers with a moment of silence Thursday morning. The ceremony coincided with a call that GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) held with his conference as 20 conservative hard-liners prevented him from taking the speaker’s gavel.
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“As a result of the events on Jan. 6, the lives of five heroic officers were lost. … 140 officers were seriously injured that day. Many more will forever be scarred by the bloodthirsty violence of the insurrectionist mob. We stand here today with our democracy intact because of those officers,” Jeffries said.
Pelosi, who at times appeared emotional, dabbing her eyes with a tissue, added: “We will always carry the memory of their family members in our hearts. And our tribute is also to those who suffered psychologically and otherwise protecting our democracy.”
U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who faced physical altercations with the rioters, died the day after the riot from a stroke. Officer Howard Liebengood killed himself on Jan. 9, 2021, after working on the fallout from the riot almost nonstop. Officer Jeffrey Smith, who was injured in the riot, killed himself several days later.
Two more law enforcement officers, Kyle DeFreytag and Gunther Hashida, killed themselves in the following months, though the connection to the events of Jan. 6 isn’t as clear. The Washington Post reported that “authorities drew no connection between the riot and [Hashida’s] death.”
During the Jan. 6 committee’s public hearing, officers testified to the trauma they incurred during the riot.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that as a police officer and as a law enforcement officer, I would find myself in the middle of a battle,” Officer Caroline Edwards said at a June hearing. “I am trained to detain a couple of subjects and handle a crowd, but I’m not combat-trained. And that day, it was just hours of hand-to-hand combat.”
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Two years to the day after the riot, most attention on the Hill has now turned toward the new Republican majority as the fight over the speaker of the House drags into its fourth day. McCarthy (R-CA) is staring down 20 members of his party who are blocking him from reaching 218 votes, but he already gave the order for the metal detectors around the House chamber to be removed. The detectors were placed as added security following the Capitol riot.
In a call at the same time as the Democrats’ ceremony, McCarthy tried to sell a deal on a set of rules that would appease both the conservatives and centrists in his party. Whether his concessions will move the needle at all in the vote count remains to be seen as the House reconvenes to vote for the 12th time.