and the families of the five people who died following
the insurrection are still seeking answers. Sandra
Garza joins me tonight. She was the longtime partner of
Officer Brian Sicknick who suffered two strokes and
later died a day after responding to the capitol riot.
Sandra, first of all, I appreciate you being here.
Thank you very much chance for having me. I really
appreciate it. It's been just over a year, just a few
days over a year since brian died. And I know there's
so much to the grieving process and it is so personal.
Where are you at this point What is your primary
feeling Well, unfortunately, mo people when they lose
a loved one, you know, a year later. Typically the
anger would, you know, tend to die down. Unfortunately
that's not the case for me, My anger has actually
increased because of, uh, you know, Donald Trump not
acknowledging the horrors of january January, six, me,
not acknowledging brian's Brian that day, and also
other republican lawmakers not acknowledging the
horrors of that day. So sadly, you know, my grieving
process is very different than someone else who would
lose a loved one. Why do you think that they haven't
reached out It's political Um, you know, obviously this
is not political for me and I know the officers who
testified and obviously I've become friends with, you
know, a lot of the officers that were there that day as
well as the family members. And it's not political for
us, this is not, you know, a democrat or republican
thing. This is a human being thing. Um, and the fact
that they're not acknowledging just the facts of what
occurred is just atrocious. Um, you know, it's, it's
horrible what the officers that have come forward, um,
have experienced from their colleagues, There's no
excuse for that, which, you know, should be coming
together as a team because it's not a political thing.
Um, this is about justice, that's what it's about. It
seems like we've heard more about, You know, from, from
those who are something of apologized for what happened
on January six about Ashley babbitt and you know, how
she was doing what she believed in or was a patriot or
whatever, or she was wronged. Then we have about people
who were in the line of duty that day, who were trying
to protect the capital and the democracy. How does it
feel to see all this passion geared towards the, the
other groups where someone like BRian was there doing
his job and serving his country It's infuriating. I
very hurtful, uh, particularly since donald trump and,
you know, other members of the Republican Party claimed
to be such advocates for law enforcement. Uh, you know,
it's, it's infuriating. Um, you know, uh, clearly as
I've said a million times before, they don't back the
blue, It's all talk. Uh, and there's nothing real or
authentic behind those slogans or statements because if
they did back the blue, uh, they would have contacted
me. This is why I continue to speak out, I want to
educate as many people as I can, particularly the
people that continue to support donald trump uh, to let
them know that hey, I supported him, brian was a
supporter of him, brian was in law enforcement. Um, you
know, and it's all a lie. It's all a lie. He does not
care about law enforcement because I know there's still
a lot of law enforcement out there that support him. He
does not care about anybody but himself at the end of
the day, it's just himself, he cares about former
president. Donald trump is still saying this election
was rigged. He's still saying I won this election. A
lot of his supporters feel that he won this election
and that really in flames them and he keeps hinting
that he might run again. How do you feel about that
Terrified Uh, and that's another reason why I continue
to speak out. Um, I want to do everything within my
power to stop that man from becoming uh, president
again. Um, he knows that he did not win legitimately.
Uh, you know, a lot of republicans were screami
before this even happened. They couldn't stand for
people to all, you know, be given first place trophies
that they didn't legitimately win first place. You know,
a lot of that theme was running through, oh, everyb
gets a trophy right Even if they don't legitimately
deserve it. And yet he wants a first place trophy and
he didn't legitimately win. So it's it's it's a
disgusting um everybody likes to win first place, but
that's not reality. Very few republicans have spoken
out against him publicly, Liz Jamie has done that.
She's paid a price for doing that. What would you say
to Liz Cheney I have a lot of respect for Liz janie,
she has a spine of steel, She's not afraid of
Donald Trump She's not afraid of her colleagues who
continue to, you know, suck up to Donald Trump You know,
she has character, she has a moral compass, she cares,
she legitimately cares about our constitution, our
democratic process and the safety of the american
people, This is not a dictatorship. Donald Trump wa
to be a dictator and that's not how America is, that
not what we want America to be. Um and so I have a lot
of respect for her as well as Adam Kinzinger and othe
who have, you know, spoken up, even if they haven't
gone as far as Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, but
particularly have a lot of respect for them because,
you know, they certainly have felt a lot of heat. Um
and even, you know, been called, were accused of being
democrats for standing up for what's right, the final
question here, 58 Percent of Americans now say our
democracy is in danger of collapsing 58%, that's from
quinnipiac Some here that they dismissed it as doomsday.
There's, you know, you guys are going overboard, but
that's a majority of Americans, January six was key to
that in that perception. I'm sure you've given this a
lot of thought. Mhm. Mhm. Yes. Uh you know, I didn't
think that prior to January six, but Donald Trump
changed all of that. Uh and it's terrifying. Um you
know, I'm a military veteran, I have deployed to the
Middle East um and you know, I've seen how other
countries operate and you know, I remember, you know,
not being able to wait to get home to get home to
american soil and so it's very depressing, it's very
sad. Um but again, this is why I continue to speak out
because I will do everything in my power and I'm just a
private citizen, but I will do everything in my power
to ensure that donald trump does not become president
again. Um and you know, he for some reason has this
grip on the Republican Party. Uh and um you know, so
hopefully there's nobody else like him that is thinking
of running because it's a scary scary thing. Sandra
Garza, thank you so much for taking the time to speak
with us. Thank you for telling us more about your view
on the world today, but also some of your history and
brian signature. We so much appreciate you, but also
everything he gave, thank you, thank you so much chance.
I appreciate it