US President Joe Biden awards Presidential Citizens Medal to 14 individuals who defended highest seat of American authorities throughout riots two years in the past, that left 5 individuals useless and 140 law enforcement officials wounded.
(Reuters)
President Joe Biden has marked the second anniversary of the
lethal assault on the US Capitol by awarding the
“Presidential Citizens Medal” to 14 individuals, a few of them posthumously, who battled to defend America’s
democracy after the 2020 election.
In a White House ceremony on Friday, Biden, a Democrat, described
the violence that wounded 140 police as “fuelled by lies.”
As he spoke, Republicans, lots of them loyal to former president Donald Trump, who pushed the false election claims,
struggled for a fourth straight day to elect a speaker of the
House of Representatives.
“All of it was fuelled by lies in regards to the 2020 election, however on today two years in the past, our democracy held as a result of we the
individuals…didn’t flinch,” Biden said.
“History will bear in mind your names..bear in mind your braveness
and bear in mind your bravery,” Biden stated.
The honorees additionally included former Arizona House Speaker
Rusty Bowers and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who
resisted stress to overturn the 2020 election leads to their
states, Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman, who diverted
rioters from the Senate ground whereas lawmakers have been evacuating,
and Georgia election employee Ruby Freeman, who was falsely
accused by Trump of election fraud.
The White House on Friday added two names to the record, each
of whom took their very own lives within the aftermath of January 6, US
Capitol Police officer Howard Liebengood and Washington police
officer Jeffrey Smith.
Freeman was compelled to flee her dwelling final yr after demise
threats from indignant Trump supporters.
Trump on Wednesday focused
Freeman by title once more to his almost 5 million followers on his
social media platform.
Biden stated Freeman and others fought again towards
“predators and peddlers of lies” in regards to the 2020 election received by
Biden.
(AFP)
Warranted award
Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died within the days following the assault on the Capitol, was awarded a posthumous medal.
Washington’s chief medical expert dominated that Sicknick died of pure causes following a number of strokes after the assault on the Capitol.
His dad and mom, Charles and Gladys Sicknick, accepted the award on his behalf.
Biden held Gladys Sicknick’s hand because the quotation about her son was learn.
“This is warranted, and in some senses overdue but also incredibly difficult for the families, and particularly the families of those who lost a hero defending our democracy,” Biden stated within the White House East Room, which was filled with household and buddies of these being honoured.
Other awardees included Harry Dunn, Caroline Edwards, Michael Fanone, Aquilino Gonell, Eugene Goodman and Daniel Hodges, who have been all members of legislation enforcement who defended the Capitol on the day of the assault.
Shaye Moss, an election employee from Fulton Country, Georgia and Al Schmidt, who was a metropolis commissioner on the Philadelphia County Board of Elections, additionally obtained awards.
Contrast with Trump
Trump supporters attacked police, broke by way of barricades
and entered the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a failed effort to
stop congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 election
victory.
Trump, who has introduced one other bid for the presidency in
2024, had pressured his vp, Mike Pence, to not certify the vote, and he continues to say that the
2020 election was stolen from him by way of widespread voting
fraud.
The White House occasion gave Biden one other alternative to
condemn the acts of violence two years in the past and lift issues
in regards to the threats to US democracy by Trump and other people impressed
by him.
Biden offered one other distinction with bickering House
Republicans throughout a joint look with Senate Republican
chief Mitch McConnell on Wednesday in Kentucky in a show of
bipartisanship.
Shortly earlier than the 2021 rampage, Trump, in his waning days as
president delivered a speech close to the White House urging his
supporters to march on the Capitol.
Five individuals died within the
ensuing riot, and greater than 140 law enforcement officials have been wounded.
A
US House panel investigating the assault stated final month that
Trump ought to face legal prices for his position in frightening the
violence.
Source: Reuters
