Fox News blasted for coverage of Capitol police officer memorial

CNN, CSpan, and MSNBC all carried rolling live coverage as respect was paid to Officer Brian Sicknick

Sean Hannity hands over to Laura Ingraham at the end of his show on Fox News on 2 February 2021 (Fox News)

Fox News has come under fire for not carrying live coverage of the memorial to slain Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick when it was broadcast by other networks.

Mr Sicknick died from injuries sustained during the storming of Congress by pro-Trump rioters on 6 January in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

At 9.30pm on Tuesday night his casket was brought to the rotunda of the Capitol to lie in honour. The ceremony was attended by president Joe Biden and lawmakers from both chambers of Congress.

CNN, CSpan, and MSNBC all carried rolling live coverage as respect was paid to the officer who gave his life protecting Congress as the violent mob attacked the building.

On Fox News though the coverage was more sporadic, occurring during the regular weeknight line-up of Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham’s opinion shows.

Both presenters acknowledged proceedings at the Capitol and discussed the circumstances that led to Mr Sicknick’s death in the handover between their shows.

Mr Hannity also called for a 9/11 Commission-style report and Ms Ingraham joined him in offering condolences to the family of Officer Sicknick.

Ms Ingraham also showed footage of the Bidens arriving at the ceremony during her show and later in the evening, anchor Shannon Bream spoke about Officer Sicknick showing footage of his casket’s arrival at the Capitol.

However, the bulk of the two primetime broadcasts was devoted variously to Dr Anthony Fauci, LeBron James, and media criticism. 

Comments on Twitter were highly critical of the decision to not air live coverage given the network’s alleged “pro-police” stance. 

“Fox News doesn’t care about cops,” read one Tweet by director and actor Aisha Tyler. “They only care about their own wild-eyed conspiracist narrative.”

Political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen wrote: “I wonder why “pro-police” Fox News almost completely ignored Officer Sicknick’s memorial service at the Capitol. Might it have *something* to do with the fact that they repeated Trump’s Big Lie that inspired the insurrection nearly 800 TIMES and are complicit in his death?”

Others described the “striking contrast” with the other networks and called the decision “disgraceful”.

Mr Sicknick will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.