President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and members of Congress paid their respects to Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick who died after the January 6 insurrection as he lay in honor in the US Capitol.
An urn with Sicknick’s cremated remains was honored on a black-draped table in the center of the Capitol Rotunda from Tuesday night through Wednesday morning. The officer will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery following a congressional tribute ceremony.
Sicknick died on January 7 at the hospital after sustaining injuries during the US Capitol siege where pro-Donald Trump groups attempted to block the certification of Biden’s presidential victory.
Sicknick was reportedly injured in the head after he was struck by a fire extinguisher.
“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,” the US Capitol Police (USCP) said in a press release after the officer’s passing. “He returned to his division office and collapsed. He was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.”
“The heroism of Officer Sicknick and the Capitol Police force during the violent insurrection against our Capitol helped save lives, defend the temple of our democracy and ensure that the Congress was not diverted from our duty to the Constitution. His sacrifice reminds us every day of our obligation to our country and to the people we serve,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint release.
The Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) Homicide Branch, the USCP, and federal law enforcement units have been investigating the death of Sicknick, according to the release.
The 42-year-old had been with the USCP since July 2008, and most recently served in the Department’s First Responder’s Unit.