Mother of policeman who died in US Capitol attack pushes for commission on insurrection

Republicans are poised to block legislation that would create a commission on the January 6 insurrection, despite both a bipartisan effort to salvage the bill and a last-minute push by the mother of a Capitol Police officer who collapsed and died after the siege.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has set up a Thursday procedural vote on the bill, challenging Republicans to support it after 35 of their GOP colleagues voted for it in the House. But it was unlikely that Democrats would be able to win the 10 Republican votes necessary to authorise the independent investigation, a remarkable turn of events just months after the worst attack on the Capitol in more than 200 years.

On Wednesday, the mother of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick said she would meet politicians ahead of the vote to try to convince them to act. Sicknick collapsed immediately after engaging with the rioters and died the next day.

“I suggest that all Congressmen and Senators who are against this Bill visit my son’s grave in Arlington National Cemetery and, while there, think about what their hurtful decisions will do to those officers who will be there for them going forward,” Gladys Sicknick said in a statement on Wednesday. “Putting politics aside, wouldn’t they want to know the truth of what happened on January 6?”