Officer Brian D. Sicknick marks the fifth person to die resulting from the mayhem that unfolded at the nation's capital.
A U.S. Capitol police officer died on Thursday evening after suffering injuries from "physically engaging" with rioters that stormed the Capitol on Wednesday. Officer Brian D. Sicknick marks the fifth person to die resulting from the mayhem that unfolded at the nation's capital, according to authorities.
"The entire USCP Department expresses its deepest sympathies to Officer Sicknick’s family and friends on their loss, and mourns the loss of a friend and colleague," Capitol Police wrote in a statement.
In wake of the siege, which saw a complete overtake of the building, lawmakers are calling for investigations that would likely lead to changes to the Capitol Police, The New York Times reported.
Sicknick was struck with a fire extinguisher as the mob invaded the halls of Congress, law enforcement officials said, according to the Times.
However, it was not immediately clear what caused Sicknick's death. The Capitol Police only stated that he "passed away due to injuries sustained while on duty."
"He returned to his division and collapsed," the Capitol Police wrote in a statement.
Sicknick joined the USCP in July 2008 and was recently serving in the Department's First Responder's Unit. He was the fourth member of the force to die in the line of duty since the department was founded nearly two centuries ago, the Times reported.
Sicknick was an Iraq War veteran originally from New Jersey who was unafraid to speak his mind and hold elected officials accountable, the New York Daily News reported.
“I implore everyone to vote their conscience in the upcoming presidential election,” Sicknick wrote in 2004 in a letter to his local New Jersey newspaper about the White House race between then-President George W. Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry, the Daily News reported. “No more rewarding incompetent politicians with a second term.”
Sicknick was reportedly struck in the head with the fire extinguisher. After he collapsed, he was rushed to the hospital, but could not be saved and died at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, police said. The Metropolitan Police Department's Homicide Branch will be investigating his death.
In addition to Sicknick, at least 50 officers were injured when lawmakers had to evacuate as they were counting the Electoral College votes, CBS News reported.
Four other people died in the aftermath of Wednesday's riots, including two women and two men. Three civilian fatalities were the result of "medical emergencies," officials said. Ashli Babbitt, a former officer in the Air Force, was fatally shot by a plainclothes officer, according to CBS News.
Babbitt tweeted “nothing will stop us” the day before she joined other Trump supporters as they stormed the Capitol. There is currently an investigation into her death.
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