Lawmakers honor slain Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick at US Capitol

Brian Sicknick, the slain U.S. Capitol Police officer whose was given the rare distinction of laying in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, is receiving a final tribute by lawmakers Wednesday.

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden joined Sicknick’s family members and colleagues from the Capitol Police in a period of visitation on Tuesday night.

Sicknick, 42, died from injuries he sustained fending off members of the mob that breached the Capitol complex on Jan. 6.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, are scheduled to deliver remarks at the ceremony at 10:30 a.m. ET.

“On behalf of the House of Representatives and the Senate, it is our great privilege to pay tribute to Officer Sicknick with this laying-in-honor ceremony,” Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement last week.

“May this ceremony and the knowledge that so many mourn and pray for them be a comfort to Officer Sicknick’s family during this sad time.”

Both leaders will be escorted into the Rotunda by a U.S. Capitol Police Ceremonial Unit, while relatives of Sicknick will be lead into the ceremony by the Sergeants at Arms.

Following the tribute by lawmakers, a departure ceremony will take place and Capitol Police will escort Sicknick’s remains to Arlington National Cemetery.

Sicknick is just the fifth person and the third Capitol Police officer to received the distinction of laying in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, a designation for those who were not government or military officials.

Famed evangelist Billy Graham was the most recent individual to receive the honor, in 2018. Civil rights icon Rosa Parks lay in honor in 2005. Capitol Police veterans Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson, who were shot and killed by a Capitol intruder, were given the honor in 1998.

U.S. Capitol Police released a joint statement last month with the Sicknick family and his longtime partner Sandra Garza, thanking the millions of people who offered support and sympathies. They added that the tribute at the Capitol is an “historic honor on our fallen American hero.”

Sicknick served 12 years with the Capitol Police force and was most recently assigned to the Capitol Police First Responder’s Unit. He is just the fifth member of the force to die in the line of duty, according to Capitol Police. Prior to joining the Capitol Police he was a Staff Sergeant with New Jersey Air National Guard, according to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

He was responding to the riots led by a pro-Trump mob attempting block lawmakers from certifying President Biden’s Electoral College victory. Capitol Police said Sicknick was injured “while physically engaging protesters,” adding that he later “returned to his division and collapsed.”

Some witnesses said Sicknick had been struck with a fire extinguisher.

He died the following day from his injuries.

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