Steube Among House Reps Voting Against Honors For Capitol Police

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to award four Congressional Gold Medals to U.S. Capitol police and others who protected the Capitol building during the Jan. 6 pro-Trump insurrection.

The bill proposing this honor, H.R. 3325, passed in a 406-21 vote Tuesday. The 21 representatives who voted against it were all Republicans, including two Florida lawmakers: Sarasota’s U.S. Rep. Greg Steube and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Niceville.

More than 140 officers were injured during the violent breach of the Capitol, which took place during the confirmation vote of President Joe Biden. Of those injured, 15 were hospitalized, according to the bill.

Several Capitol police officers died as a result of the Jan. 6 attack. Officer Brian Sicknick suffered two strokes and died of natural causes the day after the riot, the Washington Post reported. Capitol Officer Howard Liebengood and Metropolitan Police Department Officer Jeffry Smith later took their own lives.

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Patch reached out to Steube’s office for comments. This is the second time the representative voted against honoring the officers working at the Capitol Jan. 6.

After the insurrection, Steube, who was barricaded in a room surrounded by insurrectionists with three other members of Congress during the attack, condemned the mob’s actions on social media.

"The violence and lawlessness we saw today was completely unacceptable, and as a nation, we must do better," he said Jan. 6. "As I condemned the violence we saw in our nation's capital from BLM and antifa, I condemn violence and rioting of any kind, by any group or organization."