A U.S. Capitol Police officer stands at the door of the Capitol Rotunda near where the late U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick will lie in honor in Washington, Feb. 2, 2021. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)
The Capitol Police officer who died on Jan. 7 after helping respond to the U.S. Capitol breach laid in honor in the building’s Rotunda late Tuesday to honor him for his service.
The remains of late officer Brian Sicknick arrived in the evening in a motorcade and was brought into the building as his former colleagues from the Capitol Police force lined the east front steps.
Sicknick’s urn and a framed American flag were placed on a pedestal as congressional leaders from both parties and dozens of officers stood in a circle in the Rotunda.
An honor guard carries an urn with the cremated remains of U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick and a folded American flag up the steps of the U.S Capitol to lie in honor in the Rotunda, in Washington, on Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
An honor guard carries an urn with the cremated remains of U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick and folded flag up the steps of the U.S Capitol to lie in honor in the Rotunda, in Washington, on Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
U.S. Capitol Police officers stand guard near the doors of the Capitol Rotunda where the late U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick will lie in honor, in Washington, on Feb. 2, 2021. (Leah Millis/Pool via AP)
The viewing period commenced at 10:00 p.m. for members of the U.S. Capitol Police and continued overnight. Members of Congress have been invited to also attend from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Sicknick will subsequently be interred at Arlington National Cemetery, according to a statement.
Sicknick was granted the rare distinction to lie in honor about a month after he was killed defending the U.S. Capitol as rioters and some protesters breached the building on Jan. 6 as lawmakers were counting electoral votes in a joint session. The 42-year-old officer was injured on Jan. 6 while “physically engaging with protesters” after which he “returned to this division office and collapsed,” the Capitol Police said in a previous statement.
After being transported to a local hospital, he succumbed to his injuries late on Jan. 7, authorities said.
But Sicknick actually died from strokes, the D.C. Medical Examiner’s Office said on April 19.
The New Jersey Devils honor slain Capitol police officer and New Jersey native Brian Sicknick before the game between the New Jersey Devils and the Boston Bruins during the home opening game at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Jan. 14, 2021. (Elsa/Getty Images)
Sicknick is the fifth private citizen to lay in honor in the Rotunda, a term reserved for those who are not government officials or military officers. The other four people include United States Capitol Police officers Jacob Joseph Chestnut and John Michael Gibson who were killed in the line of duty in 1998, evangelist Rev. Billy Graham in 2018, and civil rights leader Rosa Parks in 2005.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visited the Capitol on Tuesday night to pay their respect to the officer.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, and members of the Capitol Police, pay their respects to the late Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick who lies in honor in the Rotunda of the Capitol in Washington, on Feb. 2, 2021. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
“The U.S. Congress is unified in grief, gratitude and solemn appreciation for the service and sacrifice of Officer Brian Sicknick,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a joint statement on Jan. 29.
“His sacrifice reminds us every day of our obligation to our country and to the people we serve,” they added.
Shortly after his death, his family called on the public to not politicize the incident. “Please honor Brian’s life and service, and respect our privacy while we move forward in doing the same,” his father said in a statement on Jan. 9.
Howard Liebengood, a 15-year veteran of the Capitol police, also died while “off-duty” on Jan. 10 by suicide. Another officer Jeffrey Smith, who had served the Metro Police Department (MPD) for about 12 years, took his own life after the incident.
Then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 10 ordered U.S. flags across the country and abroad to be flown at half-staff until Jan. 13 in honor of the “service and sacrifice” of law enforcement, Capitol police, and Capitol Police Officers Sicknick and Liebengood.
Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with new information about Sicknick’s cause of death.
