See below for video of Sen. Tim Kaine’s speech this afternoon on the U.S. Senate floor “to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that led to the tragic death of five law enforcement officers from Virginia.” As Sen. Kaine notes:
“The attack was instigated by President Donald Trump in his efforts to block the peaceful transfer of power, and in the years following, Trump has attempted to rewrite history on what really happened on January 6, 2021. On his first day back in office, Trump pardoned or commuted the prison sentences of more than 1,500 of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists—including those convicted of assaulting law enforcement and using a deadly weapon.”
Sen. Kaine delivered moving tributes to the five law enforcement officers from Virginia who died as a result of what happened on January 6, 2021 – Brian Sicknick, Howie Liebengood, Jeffrey Smith, Gunther Paul Hashida and Kyle Hendrik DeFreytag. And Sen. Kaine concluded:
“The Founders also believed with confidence that virtue would prevail over tyranny, but not without our effort. And so, standing in a nearly empty chamber today on a day that has meaning to me and maybe not to a whole lot of other people, I just say I am motivated by this. I am motivated by the notion that if we put our shoulders to the wheel in this great democracy at 250, virtue can win out over tyranny. We can turn this year of 250 into a celebration of American democracy. Not a requiem, not a wake, not a saying goodbye, but a revitalization.”
From Sen. Kaine’s office:
“One of the things about January 6, 2021, that’s very memorable in my mind is that we were all together. We were all here in the midst of a most momentous occasion, the certification of the 2020 election result … as the Sergeant at Arms told us that the Senate was under attack,” said Kaine. “I want to begin with this, just telling you the names of the five police officers who lost their lives defending this Capitol. All five were residents of Virginia.”
“Brian Sicknick was a member of the Capitol Police from Springfield, Virginia. He was 42 years old. He had served with the Capitol Police for 13 years. He was attacked directly by that mob on January 6, and one day later, on January 7, he died from multiple strokes that occurred just hours after that attack.”
“It’s a little painful to say the other four names that I’m going to now read to you and describe were four police officers who lost their lives by suicide – who were here, defending this Capitol, defending us, defending me – and were so traumatized by this seat of democracy being attacked by a mob that they lost their lives by suicide in the days and weeks after the attack,” Kaine said.
Kaine continued, “The first was a friend of mine… Howie Liebengood, a Capitol Police Officer who grew up in Vienna, Virginia. He was 51 years old. He was a 15-year veteran of the U.S. Capitol Police. Howie was an interesting guy because of his tie to the Senate. His father had worked for the Senate during Howie’s entire life. This was his family. It wasn’t just his job … He was here protecting the Capitol on January 6. He saw this place that had been his home under attack … His wife, Serena, who’s also gotten to be a friend, said that he went into a deep depression after this … And one day, shortly after that attack, he came home, and Serena said he seemed to be in a very distant mood, and he went upstairs, and a few minutes later, died by suicide.”
“So there was a provision in the benefit for Capitol police officers that, frankly, was a national provision for most that, you could receive a benefit if your death was in the line of duty … But there was an exclusion if you died by suicide … And we got that law changed so that law enforcement officers who die by suicide after a traumatic event, such as that attack, can at least try to make their case that that death was not in vain, but it was a death that was connected to your law enforcement career,” said Kaine.
Kaine continued, “Jeffrey Smith was a Metropolitan Police Officer who lived in Fairfax. He was 35 years old. He was a 12-year patrolman with the Metropolitan Police Department. Like Howie, he died shortly after the attack, by suicide.”
“Kyle DeFreytag was a Metropolitan Police Officer from Alexandria, Virginia. He was 26 years old. Whole life before him. Five-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department. Died after the attack, after defending this Capitol, after defending us, by suicide.”
“Finally, the fifth was Gunther Hashida, who was also from Metropolitan Police. Lived in Dumfries, Virginia, longtime resident of Northern Virginia. 43 years old. An 18-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department. Also took his life after the attack by suicide.”
“These are law enforcement officers, who are tough people, who see a lot of tough stuff, but they weren’t prepared. They weren’t prepared to deal with an attack on the Capitol motivated by the President of the United States … Their names should not be forgotten. Their names should be displayed in the Capitol,” Kaine remarked.
“As the Capitol Police – together with the Metropolitan Police – were battling to stop the attack, a few hours in, the television showed Virginia state police cruisers arriving so that Virginia officers could help defend democracy. And I went over to Senator Warner, my colleague and friend of now 46 years, and I said, ‘Mark, the last time there was an insurrection against the government of the United States – 160 years ago – Virginia was leading it. Virginia was leading it, and here we are, and the Virginia State Police are arriving at the Capitol to save the Union from an insurrection fomented by the commander-in-chief of the United States.'”
Kaine concluded, “Every state has a motto, but Virginia’s is the only one that is kind of a warning … ‘Thus be it always to tyrants,’ ‘Sic semper tyrannis.’ Those who put this together, they used the future verb tense because they knew tyranny was not something that was just in the rear-view mirror … The Founders believed we had to be on guard against tyranny. The Founders also believed with confidence that virtue would prevail over tyranny. But not without our effort … I am motivated by the notion that if we put our shoulders to the wheel in this great democracy, at 250, virtue can win out over tyranny. We can turn this year of 250 into a celebration of American democracy, not a requiem, not a wake, not a saying-goodbye, but a revitalization.”
