Cop killed in D.C. riot ‘loved job’

The cop killed by the mob incited by President Trump at the U.S. Capitol last week was a New Jersey native who devoted his life to public service.

U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, 42, was bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher and pepper-sprayed as hundreds of Trump supporters overwhelmed law enforcement and stormed into the building, authorities said. Sicknick died from injuries a day later.

“He loved his job,” his father, Charles Sicknick, told Reuters on Saturday. “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 fallen officer was a Trump supporter, but put his duty as a cop over his political beliefs, his father said. He joined the Capitol Police in 2008 shortly before President Barack Obama was inaugurated — and previously served in the Air National Guard with deployments to Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan.

Sicknick grew up in South River, N.J. The town’s mayor said his “death was a waste.”

“He just got along real well with everybody because he was a gentleman,” his father said.

EMTs twice resuscitated Sicknick (inset) on his way to the hospital after he sustained injuries during the assault on the Capitol, according to Reuters. His father said his son developed a clot in his brain and “he would’ve become a vegetable” had surgeons attempted to operate.

The death is being investigated by the Washington Metropolitan Police with assistance from the FBI.

Trump has not yet publicly commented on Sicknick’s death. The president at 3:13 p.m. Wednesday tweeted for his supporters to “respect the Law and our great men and women in blue” as the violent mob attacked police and occupied offices of members of Congress. Trump’s social media accounts have since been suspended over concerns that he’ll incite more violence.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence both called Sicknick’s family Friday. Pelosi said a plaque will be installed in the Capitol to commemorate Sicknick, and invited the family to pick its location. Funeral services for Sicknick will also be held in the Capitol, his father said.