United States Capitol Police has confirmed the death of an officer following the storming of the US Capitol on Wednesday local time.
The 6 January breach of the building marked a shocking assault on American democracy as Congress was certifying the victory of President-elect Joe Biden.
USCP said Officer Brian Sicknick was injured while “physically engaging” with protesters and later collapsed.
“At approximately 9:30 pm this evening (January 7, 2021), United States Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick passed away due to injuries sustained while on-duty,” USCP said in a statement.
“Officer Sicknick was responding to the riots on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol and was injured while physically engaging with protesters. He returned to his division office and collapsed.”
He was transported to a local hospital where he later died.
“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,” the statement said.
The officer’s death will be investigated by Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch, the USCP and federal partners.
Officer Sicknick is the fifth person to die following the riots in Washington DC. On Wednesday. A woman was fatally shot by police and three others died of apparent medical emergencies during the violence.
The woman was later identified as Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old Trump supporter from Maryland.
Police identified the three other people who died as Benjamin Phillips, 50, of Ringtown, Pennsylvania; Kevin Greeson, 55, of Athens, Alabama; and Rosanne Boyland, 34, of Kennesaw, Georgia.
The deaths came after Mr Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday in an unprecedented attack, interrupting the normally ceremonial procedure to certify Mr Biden’s election victory.
Mr Trump, who had addressed the mob and urged them to march on the Capitol, later released a video on social media in which he repeated the false claim of election fraud – even telling the mob “I love you”.
On Thursday local time, following the certification of Mr Biden’s election victory, the outgoing president released a subsequent video on Twitter in which he called for an “orderly” transition of power to a new administration.
Mr Trump also called the riot “a heinous attack” on the Capitol and said that violators would be prosecuted.
A further 14 DC Metropolitan Police Officers were injured, including two who suffered serious injuries.
– Additional reporting by AFP.
