New Book Alleges Lindsey Graham Snapped at Capitol Riot Victim's Mom for Speaking Ill of Trump

A forthcoming book by former D.C. police officer Michael Fanone claims that Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham snapped at the mother of an officer who died following the 2021 Capitol riots, telling her he would end a meeting if she continued speaking ill of former President Donald Trump.

Politico reports that the alleged incident took place during a meeting with Gladys Sicknick, the mother of fallen Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, who suffered two strokes in the hours after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Fanone writes that Graham told Gladys "we're going to end the meeting right now" if she kept saying negative things about Trump, according to the outlet.

In a new profile, Politico details some of the claims made in Fanone's book, Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul, out Oct. 11.

The outlet reports that some of Fanone's assertions are backed up by recordings, though conversations with Graham "weren't recorded but are recounted in cringey detail." PEOPLE's requests for comment were not immediately returned by Graham's spokesperson.

Fanone, a onetime Trump voter, has become outspoken against the former president and his allies after he suffered a traumatic brain injury and a heart attack as a result of the Capitol attack.

Sicknick's loved ones were persistent in urging lawmakers to investigate the riots after his death. His mother pleaded with lawmakers to launch an investigation, sending them a statement in which she argued that not looking into it would be "a slap in the faces of all the officers who did their jobs that day."

There were five deaths in connection with the Jan. 6 riots, during which a large group of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol complex as lawmakers gathered to certify Electoral College votes for President Joe Biden.

Sandra Garza, Sicknick's longtime partner, told The New York Times earlier this year that she confronted Sen. Graham for being "disrespectful."

Garza told the Times that, during the meeting — in which she advocated for a bipartisan commission to investigate January 6 — Graham appeared distracted.

"I said, 'I feel like you're being very disrespectful, and you're looking out the window and tapping your fingers on the desk,'" Garza told the Times.

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Graham has been a loyal ally of Trump's in recent years — despite being critical of the former reality star during his 2016 campaign. But he has vacillated when it comes to the Capitol riots, at times appearing distressed about Trump's role in the attack, and other times dismissing concerns about the events altogether.

In the hours after the attack, Graham delivered an impassioned speech on the Senate floor, saying: "Trump and I, we had a hell of a journey. I hate it being this way. I hate it being this way. All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough."

The South Carolina Republican has softened toward Trump since, meeting with the former president at his members-only Mar-a-Lago Club last February, but he has remained firm in his view that the rioters deserve to be punished.

After the former president said he would consider pardons for hundreds who face charges related to the deadly attack, Graham openly disagreed with Trump, saying "No, I don't want to send any signal that it was okay to defile the Capitol. There are other groups with causes that may want to go down to the violent path that these people get pardoned."