President Joe Biden will commemorate the two-year anniversary of the attack on the Capitol on Friday by awarding the Presidential Citizens Medal to a dozen poll workers, officials and law enforcement officers for their «contributions to our democracy» before and during the riots. said a White House president. said the officer.
«These 12 heroes demonstrated courage and selflessness during a time of peril for our nation,» the official said.
Among those who will receive The medal — the nation’s second-highest civilian honor — are former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, a Republican who resisted pressure from then-President Donald Trump and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to hold a legislative hearing on the allegations of voter fraud and have the state Legislature appoint an alternate voter list.
Other elected officials who received the medal include Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Al Schmidt, former vice chairman of the Philadelphia Board of Elections.
Biden will also award medals to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the Georgia poll worker mother and daughter who were the targets of racist death threats after Giuliani and Trump amplified the smears. Conspiracy theories accusing them of rigging votes in the weeks after the 2020 election.
Trump has continued to harp on the false claims against the couple, including in posts on your social media site earlier this week.
Also receiving the award were several Capitol Police officers who defended the Capitol, including Eugene Goodman, the Capitol Police officer who led protesters off the Senate floor while members were still evacuating, Caroline Edwards, who is believed to be the first officer wounded. in the attack, Harry Dunn, who was attacked with racial slurs while defending the building, and Aquilino Gonell, who resigned last month citing the trauma he suffered in the attack.
Former DC Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone, who suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain injury from the attack, will also receive the medal, which is awarded to individuals who have “performed exemplary acts of service to their country or his fellow citizens. ”
Metropolitan Police officer Daniel Hodges, who was «crushed» by protesters in a tunnel leading to the Capitol, will also receive the medal, the official said.
Biden will also posthumously award the medal to Brian Sicknick, the Capitol Hill police officer who died the day after the riots after suffering two strokes.