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- The White House released a statement Friday on the death of a Capitol Police officer who was severely injured during the Wednesday siege on Congress.
- Officer Brian Sicknick collapsed upon returning to his division office from the riot, where he sustained an ultimately fatal injury from being bashed in the head with a fire extinguisher.
- “Anytime a member of law enforcement dies in the line of duty it is a solemn reminder to us all that they run toward danger to maintain peace,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in the statement.
- “The President and the entire Administration extend our prayers to Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick’s family as we all grieve the loss of this American hero.”
- Sicknick was an Air National Guard veteran and deployed to Kyrgyzstan in 2003 for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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While President Donald Trump has yet to address the death of a Capitol Police officer during the riot he incited on Wednesday, the White House released a statement about the incident on Friday.
“Anytime a member of law enforcement dies in the line of duty it is a solemn reminder to us all that they run toward danger to maintain peace,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in the statement.
“The President and the entire Administration extend our prayers to Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick’s family as we all grieve the loss of this American hero.”
—Brett Samuels (@Brett_Samuels27) January 8, 2021
Officer Brian Sicknick, a New Jersey native and military veteran, was struck in the head by a fire extinguisher as police were overrun by the pro-Trump insurrectionists.
He was 42-years-old.
Sicknick reportedly returned to his division office before collapsing. After he was hospitalized that Wednesday, Sicknick succumbed to his injuries at around 9:30 p.m. Thursday.
Trump was reluctant to condemn the violence on Wednesday, eventually telling his supporters to go home in a video posted to social media late in the afternoon. The president called those rioting in his name "very special" in the video, which was subsequently removed by Twitter and Facebook.
The president released a prerecorded video on Thursday calling the attempted coup a "heinous attack," but has not said anything else about the assaults on law enforcement since returning to Twitter Friday morning aftering being suspended from the service.
The Air Force released a statement commending Sicknick for his service in the New Jersey Air National Guard.
"Staff Sgt Sicknick's commitment to service and protect his community, state, and nation will never be forgotten," the statement read according to Air Force Times.
Sicknick deployed to Kyrgyzstan in 2003 to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as to Saudi Arabia in 1999.