House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will meet with D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who was hurt during the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6.
According to The Associated Press (AP), two people familiar with the meeting said they would meet on Friday. The outlet noted Fanone is expected to be joined by Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, who responded to the rioting, and Gladys Sicknick, the mother of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.
Brian Sicknick collapsed and died after encountering the mob. It was ruled that he died of natural causes.
Fanone “has described being dragged down the Capitol steps by rioters who shocked him with a stun gun and beat him,” the AP report reads.
Fanone, Dunn, and Gladys Sicknick have all lobbied for a bipartisan commission to investigate the events of January 6, as AP reports. They visited the offices of several Republican senators last month.
Last month, Senate Republicans blocked a bill to create a commission to investigate the riot.
During an appearance on CNN last week, Fanone shared an unpleasant experience he had with one Republican lawmaker. It occurred when he went to the Capitol to speak to the 21 House Republicans who voted against the Gold Medal resolution, a bill awarding Congressional Gold Medals to the police officers who responded to the attack on January 6.
He told host Don Lemon Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (R-Ga.) refused to shake his hand, saying he “ran as quickly as he could like a coward.”
During a press conference on Wednesday, McCarthy said Republicans want to “get to the bottom” of what happened on January 6.
He added, “It’s disgusting what transpired that day, we’ve said from the very beginning. The FBI, the hundreds of arrests, I want to make sure nothing that happens here gets in the way of that. We want them to do their work. A majority of the American public believe that as well.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced on Thursday the House is launching a select committee to investigate the riot, as IJR reported.
“January 6 was one of the darkest days in our nation’s history … It is imperative that we establish the truth of that day and ensure that an attack of that kind cannot happen and that we root out the causes of it all,” Pelosi said during her press conference.
