Today’s meetings between GOP senators and Gladys Sicknick, the mother of late Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, were “very hard” for her, according to a source familiar with the meetings.
The meetings were all cordial, the source tells CNN, specifically the meetings with Sens. Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski were “very helpful because they knew someone is fighting for them.”
Ultimately, the senators made it clear to Sicknick, her son’s girlfriend Sandra Garza, Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone that they don’t want a Jan. 6 commission.
The source said it’s very hard for Sicknick to understand why the senators aren’t voting for the Jan. 6 commission, and at one point she said, “how can they not be doing the right thing?” saying that her son and all the officers deserve this and it is the right thing to do.
The group did not get any promises, but several senators said they shared Sicknick’s mission, according to a source.
Sicknick repeated to the Republican senators what she said to reporters earlier on Thursday, that she normally stays in the background, but that she thought a commission would happen and it’s like a slap in the face not to have one.
Ultimately, Sicknick and Garza are still mourning the loss of a son and partner. Both women have necklaces with some of his ashes in them, and both were wearing those necklaces at the meetings today, the source said.