Marshall, Hawley and other lawmakers react to death of Capitol police officer after riot
Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, the son of a police chief, expressed his condolences Friday after the announcement that a Capitol Police officer had died — reportedly after he was bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher — during Wednesday’s U.S. Capitol riot.
The Kansas freshman was one of only a handful of senators to vote in favor of objections to President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory after the riot which has claimed the lives of five people, including Officer Brian Sicknick, who passed away Thursday.
Sicknick had served in the Capitol Police since 2008.
“We mourn the loss of Officer Brian Sicknick who gave his life to defend ours. I’m personally eternally grateful for Officer Sicknick & all of the heroic law enforcement officers who worked courageously to restore order. Laina & I are praying for each of you and your loved ones,” Marshall said in a statement on Twitter Friday morning.
The riot broke out Wednesday after weeks of conspiracy-mongering by President Donald Trump. The violence disrupted a congressional joint session to formally count the Electoral College votes, normally a ceremonial matter that takes place without incident.
After Trump rallied with supporters and encouraged them to head to the Capitol, the pro-Trump crowd surged past police and forcibly entered Capitol Hill.
Marshall and other lawmakers who supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the election are facing scrutiny for their role in contributing to the combustible atmosphere in the lead-up to Wednesday.
The Kansas Republican’s father led the El Dorado Police Department for 25 years. Marshall has been an outspoken critic of anti-police demonstrations in recent months.
During his successful Senate campaign, Marshall falsely portrayed a peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration in Hutchinson as a terror threat and said repeatedly that critics of police did not appreciate the safety risks officers take to do their jobs.
While Marshall mourned Sicknick’s death, the other Kansas City area senator to back the election objections remained silent as of mid-day Friday.
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley is facing calls for his expulsion or censure in the wake of Wednesday’s riot from current and former officials from across the ideological spectrum.
Hawley, the former top law enforcement official in Missouri, was the first senator to announce plans to object to the Electoral College results, an action that former Sen. John Danforth, Hawley’s political mentor, said made the Missouri Republican responsible for the unrest.
Hawley’s office did not issue a statement until more than 13 hours after Sicknick’s death had been announced by the Capitol Police.
In contrast, he responded immediately when Simon & Schuster announced the cancellation of his book late Thursday. Hawley decried the publisher as a “woke mob” a day after an actual mob had attacked the Capitol.
Hawley commented on Sicknick’s death Friday afternoon following multiple inquiries from The Star and widespread criticism for his silence.
“Why hasn’t he had time to put out a statement about the fallen police officer? Because he’s mad at Simon & Schuster,” said Lincoln Project founder Reed Galen said Friday morning, noting that Sicknick died protecting Hawley and other lawmakers.
The Lincoln Project is a group of former Republican strategists who campaigned against Trump during the 2020 election.
Galen, who previously worked former President George W. Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain, said the group has launched an ad campaign against Hawley—with ads running in Washington, Kansas City and across the nation— in an effort to curb his future political prospects after Wednesday’s violence.
“Someone died in service to his institution and it’s not worth the time to say, I’m so sorry,” he said.
Former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander also called out Hawley’s initial silence Thursday night when Sicknick’s death was announced.
“Hey @HawleyMO stop going through drafts of the double-talk, say nothing statement about Officer Sicknick we all know is coming and just copy down the following words: ‘I take responsibility for my actions. I’m deeply sorry. I will resign.’ Anything less is meaningless,” Kander said on Twitter.
Prior to this week, Hawley had championed the safety of police officers as one of his key issues. Following the death of St. Louis police officer last year, he introduced the “David Dorn Back the Blue Act” to increase police officers’ salaries.
“Police departments across the country are under siege—underfunded, facing increased retirements, and struggling to make new hires. But as violence and rioting sweeps across American cities big and small, our courageous law enforcement officers are more vital now than ever. Democratic politicians are bending to radical activists who want to defund the police,” Hawley said in September when he introduced the bill.
Rep. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat who has called Hawley unfit for office after the riot, said in a statement that her “heart breaks for the friends, family, and colleagues of Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick, who died protecting the Capitol and those who work there during Wednesday’s attacks. Those responsible must be brought to justice.”
Davids, the sole Democrat in the Kansas delegation, was the only House member from the state to vote against the objections to the election results. Five of Missouri’s eight House members also supported the effort to overturn the election.
Rep. Vicky Hartzler, a Missouri Republican, backed the objections despite comparing the riot to a coup attempt.
“Heartbroken to hear of the death of Capitol Police Officer Sicknick who was injured courageously defending the Capitol on Wednesday. My prayers are with his family, his fellow officers in the USCP, and with our nation during this dark time,” Hartzler said in a statement Friday morning.
Hours later, Rep. Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican, offered his condolences to Sicknick’s family and said his “sacrifice, and the selfless actions of the United States Capitol Police Officers to protect our Capitol and to protect the lives of the thousands who work here will not be forgotten.”
During a Thursday interview, Rep. Cori Bush, a St. Louis Democrat, said she was shocked by the level violence against the officers from the pro-Trump rioters.
Bush, who gained political notoriety leading protests against police brutality in St. Louis and Ferguson, said she had been mentally prepared for a protest at the Capitol— but not a riot.
“What I wasn’t prepared for was this group of people who stormed the Capitol in the way that they did, who were fighting the police officers. Many of these people are the same people who have criticized the fight for Black lives and the way we run our protests,” said Bush, who has called for the expulsion of lawmakers that backed the election objection.
“They were actually fighting them by the dozens. You don’t see that at a Black Lives Matter protest.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 12:31 PM.
