Exactly one month since rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick’s official cause of death has not been disclosed and no one has been charged with his death.
Head of the Metropolitan Police Office (MPD), Robert J. Contee III, confirmed on a news conference Thursday that the investigation into Sicknick’s death continues, emphasizing that police continue to comb video evidence, in the latest update provided by authorities.
Contee, who spoke vaguely, also suggested that Sicknick’s injuries may not have been immediately visible. “The determination is taken by the office of the chief medical examiner, and MPD’s role is in making sure that the medical examiner has all the evidence needed to make the determination,” he said. “In this situation, with the Capitol uprising, there were hundreds of videos and all that stuff – those things going through and being transferred to them.”
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Contee said the medical examiner’s office would make a recommendation, ‘once they have a better understanding of what exactly they need to deal with’, adding, ‘sometimes, and not to speak to the doctors, when they judge individuals who may not be visible. injuries – the kind of thing – you know they have to work very thoroughly in their efforts to determine the manner and cause of death. ‘
Exactly how Sicknick died remains a mystery to the public, as an official cause of death has not yet been announced.
Media reports were contradictory – unnamed sources of law enforcement initially said Sicknick was hit in the head by a fire extinguisher, while others who spoke on condition of anonymity opposed the allegations, claiming there was no immediate evidence that Sicknick had any had blunt trauma.
As the autopsy results are pending, investigators are also considering the possibility that Sicknick could have died due to exposure to a chemical irritation, such as bear mesh or pepper spray. It also remains unclear whether Sicknick had conditions.
The chief medical examiner’s office in Washington, DC, told Fox News on Thursday that his medical examiners “meet the standard of the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) to determine the cause and manner of death within 90 days; more complex, it can be longer. ‘
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“Therefore, if this information is available and the next of kin’s relatives have been notified, I will only give you the cause and manner of death,” said Cheryle E. Adams, a special assistant, without providing details.
Lawmakers paid tribute to Sicknick earlier this week for honoring his remains in the Capitol Rotunda before a ceremonial delivery on the steps to Arlington National Cemetery, where he was buried Wednesday.
In the only public statement issued by U.S. Capitol police in which he described the circumstances surrounding his death, the department said Sicknick “died due to injuries he had on duty.” He died at the hospital on the evening of January 7 around 9:30 p.m.
Sicknick “responded to the riots” on January 6 at the US Capitol and “was injured while physically engaging in protests with protesters”, the statement said. ‘He went back to his branch office and collapsed. He was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. ‘
His eldest brother, Brian Sicknick, told ProPublica in an interview on January 8 that Sicknick texted him on January 6 to tell him he was pepper spray but that he was feeling well. He said his brother died the following evening after suffering a stroke.
The late Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick will be in the state in the Capitol state before being buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
(US Capitol Police)
“He texted me last night and said, ‘I sprayed peppers twice,’ and he was in good condition,” Ken Sicknick said by phone as the family drove from New Jersey to Washington, DC. “He apparently collapsed in the Capitol and they resuscitated him using CPR.”
The family later learned that Brian Sicknick had a blood clot and a stroke and that a ventilator kept him alive, Ken Sicknick told ProPublica. Authorities did not verify his account, and Ken Sicknick did not return a Fox News request for comment.
Fox News also requested an update from the U.S. Capitol Police, but a spokesman declined to comment on an ongoing investigation.
Two days after the uprising, the Department of Justice first launched an investigation into Sicknick’s death.
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Acting Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen said in a statement on January 8 that the FBI and the Metropolitan Police Department would jointly investigate the case and that the Department of Justice would spare no means to investigate and hold those responsible accountable. . ‘
That day, North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) also announced a $ 100,000 reward for information that led to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the murder of Sicknick. Nevertheless, no suspect has been publicly identified or arrested.
Meanwhile, a criminal complaint filed by the Department of Justice alleges that Robert Sanford, a retired Pennsylvania firefighter, was captured on video that a firefighter threw at a group of police officers outside the Capitol on Jan. 6. The officers were not mentioned in the statement of facts filed in court, and officials have so far not linked Sanford to Sicknick’s death.
According to court documents, the video watched by FBI investigators shows the object thrown by Sanford hitting an officer on the head with a helmet. “The object then ricochets and strikes another officer, who was not wearing a helmet, in the head. The object then ricochets a third time and strikes a third officer, with a helmet, in the head.”
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Sanford is charged with unlawful access to a restricted building or site, disorderly conduct and assault, and the resistance or obstruction of certain officers in the performance of official duties. As of Thursday, he is not charged with murder.