Pelosi vows to find perpetrators after Capitol police officer dies from riot injuries
A U.S. Capitol Police officer died Thursday, a day after he was injured in a riot led by supporters of President Donald Trump, prompting calls for justice from leaders in both parties.
Brian D. Sicknick died of “injuries sustained while on-duty,” Capitol police said in a news release Thursday night.
Officials said Sicknick was “physically engaging with protesters” during the riot, in which four other people died. Multiple news outlets, including The New York Times, have reported Sicknick was hospitalized after being struck in the head with a fire extinguisher during the riot.
“He returned to his division office and collapsed,” police said. “He was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.”
Sicknick had been with the department since July 2008 and was a part of the department’s First Responders Unit, officials said.
U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund is resigning amid criticism that his department was unprepared for the riot that erupted Wednesday after Trump urged supporters to walk to Capitol Hill following a rally, multiple media outlets, including CNN, report.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement on Sicknick’s death Friday, noting she ordered flags at the Capitol lowered to half-staff in his honor.
“The perpetrators of Officer Sicknick’s death must be brought to justice,” Pelosi, a Democrat from California, said.
“The violent and deadly act of insurrection targeting the Capitol, our temple of American Democracy, and its workers was a profound tragedy and stain on our nation’s history,” she said. “But because of the heroism of our first responders and the determination of the Congress, we were not, and we will never be, diverted from our duty to the Constitution and the American people.”
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican, echoed Pelosi’s demand, tweeting: “(Sicknick) gave his life to protect the business of the People. We must never forget his sacrifice & serve justice to his killer.”
Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana called the news “devastating” and said Sicknick was “bravely defending the U.S. Capitol from lawless violence. ... He’s an American hero.”
More than 50 Capitol police officers and D.C. Metropolitan Police Department were injured during the riot, McClatchy News reported.
A woman was fatally shot by police on Wednesday as rioters broke into the Capitol. Three others died of “medical emergencies in the area surrounding the Capitol grounds.”
The nation’s capital remains in a state of emergency through the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Jan. 20.
This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 5:16 AM with the headline "Pelosi vows to find perpetrators after Capitol police officer dies from riot injuries."