WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden made a surprise trip to the Capitol late Tuesday, where Brian Sicknik, the police officer who died after he was injured in the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot, is lying in honor.
Biden, who was joined at the Capitol by first lady Jill Biden, previously spoke with members of Sicknick’s family to “express his condolences and sympathies to their tragic loss,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.
Sicknick was hurt during a physical altercation as supporters of President Donald Trump who sought to stop Congress from counting Biden’s electoral college votes laid siege to the Capitol. He later collapsed and died. The Senate next week will begin an impeachment trial of Trump over his incitement of the deadly mob, which walked to the Capitol from a political rally near the White House after the former president exhorted them to protest the count.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced last week that Sicknick, 42, would lie in honor in the Capitol’s rotunda. Two Capitol Police officers who were killed in 1998 when a gunman entered the building and opened fire were given similar recognition.
“The heroism of Officer Sicknick and the Capitol Police force during the violent insurrection against our Capitol helped save lives, defend the temple of our democracy and ensure that the Congress was not diverted from our duty to the Constitution,” the Democratic lawmakers said in a statement. “His sacrifice reminds us every day of our obligation to our country and to the people we serve.”
A viewing period for members of the Capitol Police was scheduled for Tuesday night, and Sicknick will be interred Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery.
