Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, whose death was initially claimed to have been caused by rioters during the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, succumbed to natural causes stemming from a stroke the day after the violence, according to the top medical examiner in the nation’s capital.
Francisco Diaz, the chief medical examiner for Washington, D.C., told the Washington Post that Sicknick died on Jan. 7 after suffering two strokes and that he did not suffer an allergic reaction to any chemical irritants.
The medical examiner’s office told the Washington Examiner that Sicknick’s “cause of death” was “acute brainstem and cerebellar infarcts due to acute basilar artery thrombosis” — a stroke — and the “manner of death” was “natural.” The office said Sicknick was sprayed with a chemical substance around 2:20 p.m. on Jan. 6, collapsed at the Capitol around 10 p.m. that evening, and was transported by emergency services to a local hospital. He died around 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, the office added.
The Capitol Police announced Sicknick, a 42-year-old who joined the agency in 2008, died on Jan. 7, one day after rioters broke into the Capitol as lawmakers counted electoral votes to affirm now-President Joe Biden‘s victory over former President Donald Trump.
“Officer Sicknick was responding to the riots on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, at the U.S. 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,” the Capitol Police said in January.
Julian Elie Khater and George Pierre Tanios were charged in March with coordinating to assault Sicknick and two other officers with a chemical spray, although the men were not accused of murdering Sicknick and have not been charged in connection with his death.
Former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said the day after Sicknick’s death that the officer “succumbed last night to the injuries he suffered defending the U.S. Capitol against the violent mob who stormed it.” He added that the Justice Department “will spare no resources in investigating and holding accountable those responsible.”
The medical examiner’s office noted that the term “natural” is “used when a disease alone causes death” and “if death is hastened by an injury, the manner of death is not considered natural.” But despite finding that Sicknick died of a stroke in a natural manner, the office still stated that “an unprecedented incident of civil insurrection at the United States Capitol resulted in the deaths of five individuals” — a list which included Sicknick.
Diaz told the Washington Post in an interview that he found no evidence of Sicknick experiencing an allergic reaction to a chemical spray and no evidence of either external or internal injuries, yet he contended that “all that transpired played a role in his condition.” The chief medical examiner said Sicknick suffered two strokes at the base of the brainstem caused by an artery clot, but the outlet said that “he could not comment on whether Sicknick had a preexisting medical condition, citing privacy laws.”
In February, the New York Times quietly updated a report about the Capitol riot, headlined “Capitol Police Officer Dies From Injuries in Pro-Trump Rampage.” It now says that “new information has emerged regarding the death of the Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick that questions the initial cause of his death provided by officials close to the Capitol Police.” A Democratic pretrial impeachment memo cited the New York Times’s reporting, saying, “The insurrectionists killed a Capitol Police officer by striking him in the head with a fire extinguisher.”
The Capitol Police released a statement after the medical examiner’s findings were made public.
“The USCP accepts the findings from the District of Columbia’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner that Officer Brian Sicknick died of natural causes,” the Capitol Police said. “This does not change the fact Officer Sicknick died in the Line of Duty, courageously defending Congress and the Capitol. The Department continues to mourn the loss of our beloved colleague. The attack on our officers, including Brian, was an attack on our democracy. Working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department, the USCP will continue to ensure those responsible for the assault against officers are held accountable.”
The statement brought up the charges against Khater and Tanios. The two have been charged with assaulting federal officers with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to injure officers, civil disorder, obstructing or impeding an official proceeding, physical violence on restricted grounds, violent entry and disorderly conduct, and aiding and abetting, but their actions have not been connected to Sicknick’s death by prosecutors.
The Capitol Police added: “The United States Capitol Police will never forget Officer Sicknick’s bravery, nor the bravery of any officer on January 6, who risked their lives to defend our democracy. Officer Sicknick’s family requests their privacy be respected during this difficult time.”
Sicknick received the rare tribute of lying in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, where his casket was visited by Biden, and Sicknick’s cremated remains were sent to Arlington National Cemetery.
Capitol Police Officer William “Billy” Evans, an 18-year veteran of the force, was killed in a car-ramming attack, allegedly by self-described “follower of Farrakhan” Noah Green, on April 2, and he was also honored in a Capitol Rotunda ceremony last week.
The Justice Department announced last Wednesday that it will not pursue charges against the U.S. Capitol Police officer who fatally shot 35-year-old Air Force veteran and Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt during the Capitol riot, determining there was “insufficient evidence” to support a criminal prosecution.
Earlier this month, the medical examiner determined that Babbitt’s death was caused by a “gunshot wound to the left anterior shoulder,” and her manner of death was ruled a “homicide.” Not all homicides are determined to be unjustified or to be murders. A video shows Babbitt attempting to climb through a window into the Speaker’s Lobby during the storming of the Capitol, when she was shot and killed by a yet-unidentified police officer.
