In relation to the passing of U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, Donald Trump, who lost the 2020 presidential election, is being sued for millions of dollars.
The Capitol riot, which was preceded by Trump’s aforementioned loss, was followed by Sicknick’s death in January 2021 after suffering two strokes. In an announcement made in April of that year, the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) stated that it accepted the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s conclusions, including the finding that he had passed away naturally.
“This does not change the fact Officer Sicknick died in the line of duty, courageously defending Congress and the Capitol,” the USCP said in a statement dated April 19. “The Department continues to mourn the loss of our beloved colleague. The attack on our officers, including Brian, was an attack on our democracy.”
According to NPR, Sicknick’s longtime partner Sandra Garza claimed this week in a lawsuit against Trump and two Capitol rioters that the former president’s own statements caused his death, calling it “a direct and foreseeable consequence.” The two rioters, Julian Elie Khater and George Pierre Tanios, have been mentioned in previous reports on riots for their suspected use of pepper spray against Sicknick on January 6, 2021.
“As a direct and foreseeable consequence of Defendant Trump’s false and incendiary allegations of fraud and theft, and in direct response to Defendant Trump’s express calls for violence at the rally, a violent mob attacked the U.S. Capitol,” the complaint, available in full here via Axios, states. “Many participants in the attack have since revealed that they were acting on what they believed to be Defendant Trump’s direct orders in service of their country.”