Officer who died after DC riot to lie in honor in Capitol

Monitoring Desk

WASHINGTON (AP) — Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died at the hands of the mob that besieged the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, will lie in honor next week in the building’s Rotunda, congressional leaders said Friday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released a joint statement saying: “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.”

Congress will hold a ceremonial arrival for Sicknick on Tuesday night, after which a viewing period will be held overnight for members of the Capitol Police. Lawmakers will pay tribute Wednesday morning before a ceremonial departure for Arlington National Cemetery, where Sicknick will be interred.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremonies will be open to invited guests only.

Sicknick, 42, from South River, New Jersey, enlisted in the National Guard six months after graduating high school in 1997, deploying to Saudi Arabia and then Kyrgyzstan. He joined the U.S. Capitol Police in 2008.

During the Capitol siege, as rioters seething over President Donald Trump’s election loss stormed the building, Sicknick was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher. He died the next day.

In their joint statement, Pelosi and Schumer said: “On behalf of the House of Representatives and the Senate, it is our great privilege to pay tribute to Officer Sicknick with this lying-in-honor ceremony. May this ceremony and the knowledge that so many mourn with and pray for them be a comfort to Officer Sicknick’s family during this sad time.”

Courtesy: AP News