Arizona House Speaker during the 2020 election Rusty Bowers and Michigan Secretary of State during the election Jocelyn Benson will both receive the medal for resisting pressure to overturn the election results. Both officials were also recipients of the 2022 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, a recognition for government officials whose actions demonstrate the qualities of politically courageous leadership.
The medal will be presented to seven law enforcement officers, including members of the US Capitol Police Force and the DC Metropolitan Police Department, all of whom defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 and some of whom were injured in the attack. One of the seven officers to receive the medal is the late Brian Sicknick, who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 and died a day later of natural causes, according to the District of Columbia chief medical examiner’s office.
Other recipients of the medal include Fulton County, Georgia poll workers Ruby Freeman and their daughter Shaye Moss, who have repeatedly been the target of harassment when Trump and his allies accused the couple of including fake ballots on the Georgia electoral roll. Al Schmidt, a former civil servant, will also receive the award for keeping the vote count as a city commissioner on the Philadelphia County Board of Elections despite pressure and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.