Death of Brian Sicknick

On January 6, 2023, for his role in defending the U.S. Capitol, Sicknick was posthumously awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Joe Biden.

Brian Sicknick, a United States Capitol Police (USCP) officer, died on January 7, 2021, after having two strokes one day after he responded to an attack on the U.S. Capitol. The District of Columbia chief medical examiner found that Sicknick had died from stroke, classifying his death as natural and additionally commented that "all that transpired played a role in his condition." His cremated remains were laid in honor in the Capitol Rotunda on February 2, 2021, before they were buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

During the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Sicknick was on duty with the Capitol Police outside the Capitol's west side, on the front line facing protesters. At 2:23 p.m., rioters attempted to breach the police line formed by barricades of bicycle racks. Sicknick and some other officers there were pepper sprayed and became unable to perform their duties for about 20 minutes. Sicknick retreated, bent over, and used water to wash out his face. Within five minutes of the pepper spray attack, rioters breached the police line and seized control of the west side of the building.

After being in the hospital for almost a day, Brian Sicknick died around 9:30 p.m. on January 7, 2021. Earlier that day, he had two strokes. The strokes were due to a basilar artery blood clot, which caused damage to his brainstem and cerebellum.

On April 19, 2021, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the District of Columbia issued a press release about the death of Brian Sicknick. It said that the manner of death was natural and the cause of death was "acute brainstem and cerebellar infarcts due to acute basilar artery thrombosis" (two strokes at the base of the brain stem caused by an artery clot). The term "natural" was used to indicate a death caused by a disease alone; and if an injury contributed to the manner of death, it would not be considered natural. It took more than 100 days to release these results from the January autopsy. The full autopsy report was not released to the public.

In April and May 2021, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) sent letters to the acting U.S. Capitol Police chief requesting information on the handling of Sicknick's death. USCP General Counsel Thomas DiBiase replied that the department did not put out a release that Sicknick was assaulted with a fire extinguisher, and that DiBiase was unaware of any communication between the USCP and House Impeachment Managers about Sicknick's death.

On January 8, 2021, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered flags at the Capitol to be lowered to half-staff in honor of Sicknick. Vice President Mike Pence called Sicknick's family to offer his condolences, and a deputy press secretary for the Trump administration issued a written statement. The following weekend, Trump ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at all federal buildings, grounds, and vessels for three days. The governors of New Jersey and Virginia also ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in their respective states. On January 12, 2021, a memorial service was held in Sicknick's hometown of South River, New Jersey. His family, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, and local officials were in attendance. Menendez presented to Sicknick's family the flag that had flown over the Capitol in his honor. Sicknick's high school, East Brunswick Technical High School, announced plans to plant an oak tree on campus in his honor. The New Jersey Devils ice hockey team aired a video of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy giving a brief eulogy for Sicknick, followed by a moment of silence.

On January 29, Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that Sicknick would lie in honor at the Capitol rotunda. The arrival ceremony began on the evening of February 2, 2021, at the Capitol's east front, followed by a viewing period attended by President Joe Biden, who had taken office on January 20, and First Lady Jill Biden. Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff paid their respects on February 3, along with several legislators and police officers. Later that day, Sicknick's cremated remains, accompanied by a procession, departed the Capitol for Arlington National Cemetery, where burial took place.

Members of Sicknick's family attended Super Bowl LV in February 2021 as honored guests of the National Football League, along with three officers of the Metropolitan Police Department.

On August 5, 2021, Brian Sicknick, along with Capitol Police officers Howard Liebengood and Billy Evans, and Metropolitan Police officer Jeffrey L. Smith, was posthumously honored in a signing ceremony for a bill to award Congressional Gold Medals to Capitol Police and other January 6 responders. His name is noted in the text of the bill, and Biden remarked on his death. At the December 2022 Congressional Gold Medal ceremony, Sicknick's family members refused to shake the hands of Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy.

Sicknick also worked as a school custodian in Cranbury, New Jersey. He later moved to Springfield, Virginia, and joined the United States Capitol Police in July 2008. One of his first assignments occurred during the first inauguration of Barack Obama. On December 31, 2013, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice degree from the University of Phoenix. Sicknick was an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election, but those who had met him "said his political views did not align neatly with one political party": he opposed Trump's impeachment, supported gun control, opposed animal cruelty and was concerned about the national debt. He was remembered by Caroline Behringer, a staffer for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, for comforting her as she returned to work at the Capitol following Trump's 2016 victory.

He was deployed to Saudi Arabia to support Operation Southern Watch in 1999, and to Kyrgyzstan to support Operation Enduring Freedom in 2003. Sicknick later criticized U.S. motivations for the War in Afghanistan and the government's strategy in the Iraq War. In 2003, he wrote again to Home News Tribune, noting a decline in morale among troops. He was honorably discharged in that same year as a staff sergeant.

After struggling to find a job as a police officer, Sicknick joined the New Jersey Air National Guard in 1997, toward that end. He served on the 108th Wing at Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst, as a fire team member and leader with the security force squadron. In 1998, he wrote a letter to Home News Tribune, his local newspaper, expressing his skepticism towards America's soft stance against Saddam Hussein.

Brian David Sicknick (July 30, 1978 – January 7, 2021) was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to Gladys and Charles Sicknick. He grew up in South River, New Jersey, as the youngest of three sons. Sicknick attended East Brunswick Technical High School to study electronics but later aspired to become a police officer. He graduated from the high school in 1997.