FBI zeroes in on suspect in death of US Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick
- Investigators have narrowed in on an individual seen in a new video of the siege who attacked several officers with a chemical irritant, including Sicknick
- The footage has not yet led to charges directly related to the 42-year-old’s death
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney on politico.com on February 27, 2021.
The video, first reported by The New York Times, has not yet led to charges directly related to the death of the officer, Brian Sicknick. An official who asked not to be named confirmed the development to POLITICO on Friday night.
While the video seems likely to aid in the identification of the suspect and may lead to charges such as assault on a police officer with a dangerous weapon, it is unclear whether the new evidence will allow prosecutors to charge someone with Sicknick’s death. That would require prosecutors to prove some causal link between the actions of protesters and the 42-year-old officer’s death.
Trump impeachment managers show horrific footage of Capitol attack
More than 100 other Capitol and Washington, DC, police officers were injured during the violence, some severely, and two reportedly died by suicide in the days following the insurrection. Four demonstrators also died, including one shot by an officer defending the House chamber.
For nearly two months, Capitol Police has declined to provide details of the circumstances of Sicknick’s death. Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told lawmakers on Thursday that she considered it a “line-of-duty” death but said nothing else about the circumstances.
A Capitol Police statement on Friday suggested further action regarding Sicknick would have to await details on his cause of death.
“The medical examiner’s report on Officer Brian Sicknick’s death, which followed the attack on the Capitol on January 6, is not yet complete,” the agency told CNN. “We are awaiting toxicology results and continue to work with other government agencies regarding the death investigation.”
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Aftermath of US Capitol assault by Trump supporters
Sicknick died at 9.30pm on January 7, Capitol Police revealed in a statement that night, describing him as “injured while physically engaging with protesters.”
“He returned to his division office and collapsed,” the agency said at the time. “He was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.”
Prosecutors and Capitol Police officials have indicated that numerous participants in the January 6 attack deployed pepper spray, bear spray, mace and other chemical irritants at police. One Capitol Police Captain, Carneysha Mendoza, told a Senate committee on Tuesday that she observed protesters deploy “military-grade CS” gas inside the Capitol itself.
On Friday, court officials unsealed a criminal case against a suspect, Daniel Caldwell of Texas, who claimed in a video recorded on January 6 to have sprayed officers during a confrontation on the steps of the Capitol.
“According to Caldwell, once the officers sprayed him, Caldwell sprayed toward police officer [sic] and believed he sprayed around 15 officers,” according to the FBI affidavit supporting the case.
The FBI submission, dated February 8, also included screenshots of publicly posted videos showing a man believed to be Caldwell spraying in the direction of Capitol officers.
