By Matthew Holloway. Media: DC Enquirer.
Note: This article may contain commentary reflecting the author’s opinion.
President Joseph R. Biden in the act of awarding 12 individuals with Presidential Citizens Medals for actions associated with either the 2020 presidential election that ushered him into power or the January 6th Capitol riot, mischaracterized the deaths of two police officers and outright lied about a third.
Multiple political figures were awarded medals including former Arizona legislator Rusty Bowers, who refused to decertify the 2020 election, as well as Shaye Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, who both worked as election workers in Fulton County, Georgia. Both women were implicated in serious allegations of voter fraud.
Biden also awarded Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, D.C. Metro Police Officer Jeff Smith, and Capitol Police Officer William Evans posthumously. While these officers should certainly be lauded for their service, the problem lies in Biden’s mischaracterization of two of their deaths as being a direct result of the riot, and an outright lie about the third.
First, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was initially reported as being killed by a fire extinguisher blow to the head —falsely— actually perished due to natural causes on Jan. 7th, the day after the riot, according to the Washington D.C. medical examiner cited by NPR. In an interview, Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Francisco Diaz told The Washington Post Sicknick suffered two strokes.
The official citation read at the ceremony stated, “He lost his life protecting our elected representatives, upholding the will of the American people, and defending our institution.”
- A statement from the U.S. Capitol Police stated that while it accepted the medical examiner’s determination. “This does not change the fact Officer Sicknick died in the line of duty, courageously defending Congress and the Capitol.”
- However, this is not how the Biden and mainstream media narratives have presented Officer Sicknick’s death. While tragic, and indeed in the line of duty, Sicknick was not killed by the rioters, nor due to injuries sustained during the riot.
- Two men who allegedly sprayed Sicknick with bear spray, Julian Elie Khater of State College, Pennsylvania and George Pierre Tanios of Morgantown, West Virginia, were arrested and plead guilty to assaulting officers. Both are pending sentencing and will likely face 6-9 years in prison.
D.C. Metro Police Officer Jeff Smith, who sustained injuries during the Jan. 6th riot, committed suicide in his home nine days after the events of that day.
The citation read for Officer Smith stated, “On January 6, 2021, as he fought the violent mob, officer Smith sustained devastating head injuries from multiple assaults inside and outside the capitol. He died after protecting Congress, guarding the Capitol, and preserving our democracy.”
- After a year of Smith’s wife Erin petitioning the city of Washington, officials reclassified his death as in the line of duty.
- Mrs. Smith alleged that he committed suicide due to a brain injury. “I think the physical attack on him changed him,” Erin told CBS News. “If he didn’t go to work that day, he’d still be here.”
- The Washington Police and Firefighters’ Retirement and Relief Board ruled that an injury Smith sustained on Jan. 6 “was the sole and direct cause his death,” a distinction that allows Mrs. Smith to collect enhanced benefits.
- Three other officers committed suicide after the riot, according to CBS. The other three officers, however, were not honored with the Presidential Citizens Medal.
Capitol Police Officer William Evans who Biden claimed died as a result of “threats by these sick insurrectionists,” was in fact killed by 25-year-old Nation of Islam follower Noah Green who rammed Officer Evans with a car at the Capitol barricades four months after the Jan. 6th riot. As reported by The Daily Mail, the Washington D.C. medical examiner also ruled the death of Evans a homicide.
Biden claimed during the ceremony, “Officer Evans was killed defending a checkpoint you had to go through to get up to the Capitol because of these godawful sick threats.”
- This isn’t the first time that Biden has lied about the circumstances surrounding Officer Evans’ death, which while tragic was wholly unrelated to the people, groups, and events of the Jan. 6th riot. Even CBS Austin reported that “Multiple politicians, including President Joe Biden, misleadingly grouped a Capitol Police officer killed by a Nation of Islam follower into their condolences for the officers who died in the wake of last year’s Jan. 6 attack.”
- CBS added, “Evans, was killed three months after the January attack by Noah Green, a Louis Farrakhan devotee who rammed his car into officers. There is no evidence to suggest Evans’ killing is related to the events on Jan. 6.”
Joe Biden just said that Capitol Police Officer William Evans died as a result of "threats by these sick insurrectionists."
Officers Evans was killed by a black Nation of Islam supporter who rammed him with a car. pic.twitter.com/5FIb6tIOtz
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 6, 2023
Facts are important, and any obfuscation of the facts around the deaths of these men, even while ‘honoring’ them, in fact, dishonors them.
As of this report, there has been no mention by Biden or the White House of Air Force Veteran Ashli Babbitt who was killed on January 6th in the Speaker’s Lobby by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd. A Capitol Police internal review later cleared Byrd of responsibility.
