A U.S. Capitol Police officer has died from wounds sustained during the Washington, D.C. riots incited by Donald Trump, the department announced Thursday night.
The officer, identified as Brian D. Sicknick, was injured Wednesday while “physically engaging with protesters,” and taken to a local hospital. He died Thursday; his death is being investigated as a homicide in partnership with other law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement.
“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 department said in a statement.
BREAKING: A Capitol Police Officer has died after being injured by a protester in the Capitol on Jan 6
Per spox: Officer Sicknick was responding to the riots on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol and was injured while physically engaging with protesters. pic.twitter.com/g67NhGKJm0
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) January 8, 2021
Officer Sicknick’s death brings the total killed during the riot to 5. Also killed were a woman rioter who died Wednesday after being shot by police as the crowd stormed the Capitol building, and three others who died from unspecified “medical emergencies.”
In a statement earlier Thursday, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said 50 law enforcement officials were injured during the riot, after clashing with Trump supporters armed with metal pipes and other weapons. According to the statement, police also responded to reports of potential bomb threats in and around the Capitol.
Sund himself has resigned over the incident after lawmakers, including House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, criticized Capitol Police’s lack of preparedness and mishandling of the situation. He will step down on Jan. 16.
Hundreds of pro-Trump protesters stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election. During the chaos, Vice President Mike Pence and the rest of Congress were forced to evacuate, bringing a temporary halt to the day’s proceedings. Rioters carrying Trump and Confederate flags then vandalized the building, occupied congressional offices and stole property.
The events were met with widespread condemnation from lawmakers and other elected officials, with particular ire directed at President Trump’s role in inciting the riots by repeating false claims of election fraud. A growing number have called on Trump to resign or for Congress to take action to remove him from office, either through impeachment or by invoking the 25th Amendment.
Trump on Thursday, after a period of apparent unwillingness to definitively condemn the rioters, issued a statement on Twitter disavowing the violence and finally conceding the election.