Police officer Brian Sicknick, killed by mob that stormed Congress, to lie in honor at U.S. Capitol
The police officer who was pepper-sprayed then fatally bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher when hundreds of Donald Trump supporters stormed Congress on Jan. 6 will lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol rotunda.
U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, 42, who died from his injuries Jan. 7, will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Friday.
“The U.S. Congress is united in grief, gratitude and solemn appreciation for the service and sacrifice of Officer Brian Sicknick,” said Pelosi and Schumer in the statement.
“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.”
An arrival ceremony will be held at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday on the east front of the Capitol, open to invited guests only because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Members of the U.S. Capitol Police are invited for an evening viewing to continue overnight, and members of Congress can attend the viewing Wednesday morning before a Congressional tribute will be held.
Sicknick’s body will depart the Capitol at noon Wednesday and he will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Pelosi and Schumer said.
“Any person who has rendered distinguished service to the nation may lie in state if the family so wishes and Congress approves,” according to the website for the Architect of the Capitol.
Government officials and military officers can have their remains lie in state while the remains of other citizens lie in honor.
Sicknick, a New Jersey native, served six years in the New Jersey Air National Guard with deployments to Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan before he joined the U.S. Capitol Police in July 2008.
“He loved his job,” his father, Charles Sicknick, told Reuters earlier this month. “If any good comes out of my son’s death, I just hope that it stops all the lunacy that’s been going on in this country.”
The Washington Metropolitan Police and the FBI are investigating Sicknick’s death.
