US Capitol police officer who died after riot to lie in honour
31 January, 2021
The US Capitol officer who died after being injured in the Jan 6 attack by pro-Trump rioters will lie in honour at the building's Rotunda, lawmakers said on Friday (Jan 29), a mark of respect rarely bestowed.
Brian Sicknick was reportedly struck on the top with a fire extinguisher while struggling with the rioters who swarmed through the halls of Congress.
The 42-year-old person in the force that protects the ground of the Congress returned to his division office where he collapsed and was taken up to the hospital, in line with the Capitol Police.
He died the very next day, they said, delivering the loss of life toll from the violent attack to five.
"The US Congress is united in grief, gratitude and solemn appreciation for the provider and sacrifice of Officer Brian Sicknick," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a declaration on Friday.
Sicknick's actions "during the violent insurrection against our Capitol helped save lives, defend the temple of our democracy and make certain that the Congress had not been diverted from our duty to the Constitution".
"With respect to the House of Representatives and the Senate, it really is our superb privilege to give tribute to Officer Sicknick with this lying-in-honor ceremony," the statement continued.
Only four other persons have laid in honour in the Rotunda previously, according to the House archives website: The Reverend Billy Graham, civil rights icon Rosa Parks, and two additional Capitol police officers, Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson, killed throughout a shooting rampage at the building in 1998.
Pelosi had earlier ordered flags more than the Capitol lowered in Sicknick's honor. Four times after the attack, hundreds of off-duty police lined Constitution Avenue in Washington and saluted as a hearse rolled slowly by carrying his body.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com