Cop succumbs to injuries after riot at US Capitol
WASHINGTON: US Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died of injuries suffered when supporters of President Donald Trump assaulted the legislative building, the force said on Thursday, bringing to five the number OF fatalities from the riot.
“Officer Sicknick was responding to the riots... and was injured while physically engaging with protesters,” police said in a late-night statement. He succumbed on Thursday after being taken to hospital following his collapse upon returning to his divisional office, they added.
Metropolitan homicide officials will investigate the death of Sicknick, who joined the US Capitol Police in 2008, along with the Capitol force and its federal partners, police said.
Also on Thursday, the US Capitol police chief handed in his resignation, a source close to the agency told AFP. Steven Sund “is resigning effective January 16, 2021,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for his resignation, following sharp rebukes for what many criticised as a lack of preparation.
US transportation secretary Elaine Chao and education secretary Betsy DeVos resigned on Thursday, joining a growing list of aides leaving Trump’s administration in protest at the storming of the US Capitol.
It has emerged that three days before supporters of Trump rioted at the Capitol, the Pentagon had asked the Capitol Police if it needed National Guard manpower. And as the mob descended on the building Wednesday, justice department leaders reached out to offer up FBI agents. The police turned them down both times, according to senior defence officials and two people familiar with the matter.
Despite plenty of warnings of a possible insurrection and ample resources and time to prepare, the Capitol Police planned only for a free speech demonstration.
Still stinging from the uproar over the violent response by law enforcement to protests last June near the White House, officials also were intent on avoiding any appearance that the federal government was deploying active duty or National Guard troops against Americans.
The result is the Capitol was overrun on Wednesday and officers in a law enforcement agency with a large operating budget and experience in highsecurity events protecting lawmakers were overwhelmed for the world to see.
The rioting and loss of control has raised serious questions over security at the Capitol for future events. The actions of the day also raise troubling concerns about the treatment of mainly white Trump supporters, who were allowed to roam through the building for hours.