The Capitol Police officer, the Air Force veteran, and the Trump super fans: The five who died amid the siege of Congress

Brian Sicknick was an officer with the Capitol Police who died Thursday evening after he “was injured while physically engaging with protesters,” the USCP said in a statement announcing his death. The USCP said he had “returned to his division office and collapsed” and died from his injuries after being transported to an area hospital. He is only the fourth USCP officer to die in the line of duty since the department’s founding in 1828.

The exact circumstances that led to Sicknick’s death are not readily available, but there are reports, citing law enforcement sources, that Sicknick was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher during the chaos. The Washington Examiner reached out to the Capitol Police for more information about the situation surrounding the officer’s death but did not immediately receive a response. Police are investigating his death as a homicide and will be assisted by the FBI, acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said on Friday.

The 42-year-old was a Virginia resident and had joined the Capitol Police back in 2008, just days before President Barack Obama was sworn into office. Prior to that, he served in the military as an Air National Guardsman and took part in both Operation Desert Shield and Operation Enduring Freedom.

(United States Capitol Police/AP)

His brother, Craig Sicknick, told the Daily Beast that Brian “always tried to do what was right” and revealed that prior to his brother’s death, he had been put on a ventilator and was suffering from a blood clot in his brain.

“This tragic loss is a reminder of the bravery of the law enforcement who protect us every day,” said Rep. Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat, about Sicknick’s death. Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut said her “heart breaks over the senseless death” and called for accountability.

On Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered flags at the Capitol be lowered to half-staff in Sicknick’s honor.

Ashli Babbitt of California

Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old California woman who flew to Washington, D.C., to demonstrate in support of President Trump, was part of the crowd that breached the Capitol building on Wednesday and died as a result of a Capitol Police officer shooting her as she attempted to delve further into the building.

Video footage seen by the Washington Examiner shows Babbitt with a group of those who had breached the building. She attempted to hoist herself through a broken window but was quickly shot by an officer on the other side. The force of the blast caused her to fall backward onto the ground, where other Capitol Police began yelling for the rioters to move back. Babbitt is seen bleeding from her neck and face area as her movement quickly slows.

Outrage over Babbitt’s death spread among demonstrators on Wednesday night as video footage showing her death began to circulate online. While misinformation was prevalent on Capitol Hill in the hours after the shooting, including rumors that a 16-year-old girl had been shot, the Washington Examiner observed people at the Capitol berate law enforcement about Babbitt’s death, and her demise was at times used as a rallying cry among those sticking around the complex as night began to fall.

Babbitt’s grandfather, Tony Mazziott, told ABC 10 that Ashli grew up in Lakeside, California, which is a community of about 20,000 people located in San Diego County, just east of the city. Babbitt reportedly served in the U.S. Air Force from 2004 to 2008 and then later in the Air Force Reserve from 2008 to 2010 and the Air National Guard from 2010 until November 2016.

“She served in the United States Air Force and was deployed four times and came back safely, only to have her own country shoot her down,” Babbitt’s mother Michelle Witthoeft told CNN.

(Maryland MVA/Courtesy of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

Mazziott, her grandfather, said that after Trump first announced he was running in the 2016 presidential election, his granddaughter became very active in her support for his campaign. He said that she “went bananas” over the president. After her time in the military, Babbitt worked as a security guard at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Plant in Maryland for a brief period and then was working at a California pool supply store she helped run, according to the New York Times. Her life, and social media feeds, were imbued with politics. There was even a sign on the door of her pool supply store that declared it a “mask free autonomous zone.” She also promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory, which asserts that the government is actually run by a “deep state” of Satanic pedophiles.

Babbitt’s mother said that she was deeply saddened by her daughter’s death but stressed that Babbitt was “passionate enough to die for what she believed in” and also added that Babbitt’s “political views were strong and adamant, and she voiced them whenever she could.”

The Capitol Police employee who fatally shot Babbitt has been placed on administrative leave pending a joint investigation by USCP and the Metropolitan Police Department.

Ben Philips of Pennsylvania

Philips, 50, had organized a bus of demonstrators who supported Trump to drive from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Washington to protest the results of the Nov. 3 election. Prior to Wednesday’s rally and the subsequent demonstrations, Philips was quoted by the Philadelphia Inquirer as saying: “It seems like the first day of the rest of our lives, to be honest.” He drove a van that trailed behind the bus of Trump supporters he had organized. “They should name this year Zero because something will happen,” he said prior to Wednesday’s events.

Gordy Smith, one of the Pennsylvanians who came to town with Philips, told the newspaper that no one from the group saw him after they arrived because he had left the group to try to find a place to park ahead of the demonstration.

(Keith Haupt/AP)

The exact cause of Philips’s death is still unclear, and there have not been any reports that he directly participated in the Capitol Hill siege. The Washington Examiner reached out to police in the district for more details about how and where he died but did not immediately receive a response.

Philips, an avid Trump supporter, was a web developer who had several websites, including a pro-Trump social media website called “Trumparoo,” which he named after a stuffed kangaroo he had modified to resemble the president. He spent a quarter-century living in Philadelphia prior to moving to the town of Bloomsburg to take care of his mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease.

Kevin Greeson of Alabama

Kevin Greeson, 55, had a heart attack on Wednesday during the demonstrations, according to a statement from his family, who also said that he dealt with high blood pressure and was not in Washington to participate in any violence.

“Kevin was an advocate of President Trump and attended the event on Jan. 6, 2021, to show his support,” the family said. “He was excited to be there to experience this event. He was not there to participate in violence or rioting, nor did he condone such actions.”

They said that because of his high blood pressure and “in the midst of the excitement,” he suffered a fatal heart attack.

An account appearing to belong to Greeson on Parler, a social media site favored by conservatives, included missives about his thoughts on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and interactions with the far-right Proud Boys group, according to NBC News. Greeson’s wife, Kristi Greeson, would not confirm if the account belonged to her husband, although pictures he posted to Parler are reportedly the same as ones on his other social media accounts.

Greeson’s son, Kyler Greeson, asked for thoughts and prayers in a Facebook post following his father’s death.

“We all loved him so much. He made me the man I am today,” Kyler wrote. “Him my brother and I would ride motorcycles together and have a great time. He was such a great man we all miss you so much.”

Rosanne Boyland of Georgia

Rosanne Boyland, 34, of Kennesaw, Georgia, died while storming the Capitol building on Wednesday, where she was trampled to death by the crowd, according to her friend who accompanied her to Washington for the demonstrations.

Justin Winchell, her friend, told CBS 46 that while they were on Capitol Hill, Boyland fell and was crushed by the people around her. He said that her death occurred while the mob began clashing with the police.

“They basically created a panic, and the police, in turn, push back on them, so people started falling,” Winchell recounted. “I put my arm underneath her and was pulling her out, and then, another guy fell on top of her, and another guy was just walking [on top of her],” he said, adding that he saw paramedics unsuccessfully attempt to revive her.

Although Winchell didn’t blame Trump for inciting the riot, Justin Cave, Boyland’s brother-in-law, laid the blame squarely at the president’s feet.

“It is my own personal belief that the president’s words and rhetoric incited a riot last night that killed four of his biggest fans, and I believe that we should invoke the 25th Amendment,” Cave said in a statement. “We appreciate your prayers and ask for everyone to respect our family’s privacy as we mourn her death.”

Nearly 70 people were arrested during Wednesday’s events, and the police and FBI are asking the public for help in identifying other suspects. The Justice Department also announced new charges for several people on Friday, including a man photographed in Pelosi’s office, a man from Alabama who was allegedly found with guns and Molotov cocktails in his truck, and a delegate in the West Virginia state legislature.

Trump made his first public speech about the Capitol Hill siege on Thursday in a brief video posted to Twitter.

“The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy,” he said. “To those who engage in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country.”