US Capitol Hill police officer dies of injuries from riot
By a Biometrica staffer
A US Capitol Police officer died from injuries sustained while physically engaging with rioters who descended on the Capitol the day before, the US Capitol Police (USCP) said in a statement.
The officer, Brian D. Sicknick, was the fourth member of the force to be killed in the line of duty since its founding two centuries ago, the New York Times reported. Officer Sicknick joined the USCP in July 2008, and most recently served in the Department’s First Responder’s Unit.
He was responding to the riots on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol and was injured while physically engaging with protesters. He returned to his division office and collapsed. He was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
It was the fifth fatality linked to the chaos that engulfed the nation’s capital, the New York Times report said, citing authorities. The Capitol Police force is charged solely with protecting the Capitol and surrounding grounds, New York Times said in its report. Over the course of two centuries, the force has evolved, its mission shifting and growing with the nature of the threats to the institution.
In the statement, the Capitol Police expressed its deepest sympathies to Officer Sicknick’s family and friends for their loss. His death will be investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch, the USCP, and other federal partners.
Hundreds of law enforcement officers from scores of agencies lined the streets to pay tribute to their fallen comrade late on Thursday. They stood in lines on Constitution Avenue and 3rd Street, saluting in silence as a police motorcade for Officer Sicknick passed through the city, according to videos from local reporters at the scene.
Lawmakers in both chambers and from both parties vowed to find out how those responsible for Capitol security had allowed a violent mob to infiltrate the building. Three of Congress’s top security officials — Capitol Police Chief Steven A. Sund, House Sergeant at Arms Paul D. Irving and Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael C. Stenger — announced their resignations on Thursday.
“This tragic loss is a reminder of the bravery of the law enforcement who protect us every day,” Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio, a Democrat who runs the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Capitol Police’s budget, said in a Tweet on Friday.
Officials have said that about 50 police officers were injured as the mob swarmed barricades, threw objects, battered doors, smashed windows and overwhelmed some of the officers who tried to resist the advancing crowd.
The Capitol Police reported 14 arrests during the incursion, including two people accused of assaulting a police officer. The local police arrested dozens of others, mostly in connection with unlawful entry and violations of the city’s Wednesday night curfew.