WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — President Joe Biden on Friday will present the nation's second highest civilian award to 12 individuals involved in defending the Capitol during the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and safeguarding the will of American voters in the 2020 presidential election.
The White House announced on Thursday that Biden will present the Presidential Citizens Medal during an East Room ceremony marking the second anniversary of the assault on the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump whose siege interrupted the congressional certification of Biden's victory.
Among those being honored are seven members of law enforcement, including a posthumous award to Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after the attack, and an award to Officer Eugene Goodman who was credited with directing rioters away from the Senate floor while lawmakers were evacuating the building.
Also being honored are two other Capitol Police officers, Harry Dunn and Caroline Edwards; Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell; Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges and a former officer, Michael Fanone.
Biden is also recognizing Michigan's secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, and Rusty Bowers, a former Arizona House speaker, who resisted pressure to overturn the election results; and Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss, election workers in Fulton County, Georgia, who were subjected to threats and harassment after ensuring votes in the county were properly tabulated.
An award is going to Al Schmidt, a former Philadelphia election official who faced public pressure from Trump to stop counting valid ballots. Schmidt, a Republican, will be nominated for the top election administration post in Pennsylvania, secretary of state, by Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro, a Democrat.
The Presidential Citizens Medal, created by President Richard Nixon in 1969, is the country's second-highest civilian honor after the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is awarded to those who “performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens.”
"The call came last Thursday. I'm dodging raindrops waiving bye to people, and the gentleman says, I'm from the White House, and my first thought was, 'Oh, no. Here we go again,'" said Bowers.
Bowers, a longtime Arizona Republican, chose country over his party when he refused a request from former President Donald Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Arizona.
His political days may be numbered, but he says his oath to defend the Constitution didn't come with an expiration date.
"I hope I'm not taking away from someone who is more deserving, but it is a recognition that the country is important and so are the institutions of this country."
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