Maryland Lawmakers Ask President Joe Biden To Award Medal Of Freedom To Capital Gazette Shooting Victims
WASHINGTON (WJZ) -- Members of Maryland's Congressional Delegation are asking President Joe Biden to award the Capital Gazette shooting victims the Medal of Freedom for "embodying the spirit of the Freedom of the Press."
"As Senators and Representatives of the State of Maryland, we urge you to consider Wendi Winters, Rob Hiaasen, Gerald Fischman, John McNamara, and Rebecca Smith for this great distinction," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to President Biden.
Winters, Hiaasen, Fischman, McNamara and Smith were killed on June 28, 2018, in the deadliest attack on journalists in American history at the Capital Gazette newsroom.
"Though their memories have been honored in numerous ways since the attack, including through the forthcoming National Memorial to Fallen Journalists, we concur with their families and former colleagues that they deserve our Nation's highest civilian honor," the lawmakers said.
"We believe these Marylanders, who embodied and protected the First Amendment, deserve such an honor," the lawmakers added.
To read the lawmakers' entire letter to President Biden, please click here.