DC officers who defended Capitol, family of Sicknick honored at Super Bowl

Three Washington, D.C., police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol building last month when a violent riot rocked the nation’s capital attended the Super Bowl on Sunday after being invited by the NFL.

The family of the late Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died from injuries sustained while defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, also attended the game after being invited by the NFL, the league confirmed to The Hill. 

The officers were Mike Fanone, Daniel Hodges and Lila Morris. They were invited by NFL’s chief security officer, Cathy Lanier, who was previously the chief of police in the nation’s capital. 

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) thanked the NFL on Twitter “for honoring our (super)heroes.”

Thank you, @NFL, for honoring our (super)heroes from @DCPoliceDept at the #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/eqsn1qS4Xq

— Muriel Bowser (@MurielBowser) February 7, 2021

The D.C. Police Union tweeted that it was “nice to see members of @DCPoliceUnion honored” at Sunday’s game. 

Nice to see members of @DCPoliceUnion honored at #SuperBowl for their heroism. pic.twitter.com/4etxejYd0Q

— DC Police Union (@DCPoliceUnion) February 7, 2021

Fanone last month described what he experienced on Jan. 6 after a pro-Trump mob rioted in the Capitol in an effort to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College results in the presidential election between former President Trump and President Biden.  

He told The Washington Post that rioters removed his helmet and dragged him down a set of steps. He suffered a mild heart attack in the wake of the chaos and said that he lost consciousness.

“I was being beat from every angle,” he told the Post. “I thought, maybe, I could appeal to somebody’s humanity.”

A man was charged last month with assaulting Hodges during the riot, including using a police riot shield to push against him as he was pinned. Another rioter was seen in a viral video trying to rip Hodges’s gas mask off.

Morris was behind Hodges during the riot and was also injured, WUSA9 reported.

Sicknick laid in honor in the Capitol Rotunda earlier this month. Approximately three dozen officers on Tuesday stood in a circle around a pedestal where an urn holding Sicknick’s remains was placed and saluted their colleagues at a ceremony. 

At least 140 Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department officers were injured at the riot, including some who have suffered brain injuries, smashed spinal discs and more.