WASHINGTON — Brian D. Sicknick, the Capitol Police officer who died from accidents sustained throughout the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, lay in honor on Wednesday in the constructing he as soon as protected, his stays carried out for a last time by means of doorways nonetheless shattered by the rampage.
Members of his household, lawmakers and Capitol Police officers gathered in the Rotunda for a considerably socially distanced service for Officer Sicknick, the fifth particular person to lie in honor at the Capitol and solely the fifth member of the pressure to die in the line of responsibility.
“Blessed are the peacekeepers like Brian,” mentioned Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority chief. “Let us be peacekeepers now in his memory.”
Officer Sicknick died after clashing with the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol final month, sending lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence fleeing in an assault that shook the nation and introduced new scrutiny to the Capitol Police pressure. The chief, in addition to the prime safety officers in the House and the Senate, have all resigned in the aftermath of the riot, and the appearing chief has apologized to Congress for the division’s missteps, saying it was woefully underprepared for an onslaught it knew in advance was doable.
Politics had been notably absent from the ceremonies honoring Officer Sicknick, which started Tuesday, when President Biden traveled to the Capitol to pay homage. They continued on Wednesday as Vice President Kamala Harris and lawmakers in each events visited his stays beneath the Capitol dome, in the similar spot the place throngs of rioters marauded final month.
Mr. Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi made no point out of former President Donald J. Trump’s imminent impeachment trial, in which he faces a cost of “incitement of insurrection” for the assault that killed Officer Sicknick. Instead, they vowed to not neglect the fallen officer.
“We must be vigilant as what President Lincoln referred to as the harsh artillery of time. We will never forget,” Ms. Pelosi mentioned throughout the ceremony, standing earlier than Officer Sicknick’s stays and an American flag, positioned upon a stand crafted for the ceremonies. “Each day when members enter the Capitol, this temple of democracy, we will remember his sacrifice and then others that day who fought so hard to protect the Capitol and the Congress.”
A veteran of the Air National Guard from South River, N.J., Officer Sicknick joined the Capitol Police in 2008. Mr. Schumer mentioned his colleagues would describe Officer Sicknick, a New Jersey Devils fan, as “the quiet rock of his unit” and a reliable officer who by no means missed a radio name. He wouldn’t have favored his new highlight, Mr. Schumer mentioned, including that he would have been the first “to puncture the somber moment with his sharp sense of humor.”
Mourning the lack of two different officers who dedicated suicide after defending the Capitol on Jan. 6 — which has solely sharpened the highlight on the division — he reminded officers and employees of the psychological well being assets obtainable to them.
Other lawmakers and prime officers attended the ceremony, together with the prime Republican leaders, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Representative Kevin McCarthy of California; Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III; and Mayor Muriel E. Bowser of Washington.
In separate statements, Mr. McCarthy and Mr. McConnell expressed gratitude for Officer Sicknick’s heroism. Mr. McCarthy mentioned Congress joined “together in anguish and appreciation” on Wednesday. Mr. McConnell known as Officer Sicknick “the true patriot.”
“Four weeks ago, the Rotunda was strewn with the debris of an insurrectionist mob,” Mr. McConnell mentioned on the Senate ground. “Today, it is adorned in solemn thanksgiving for the sacrifice of a hero.”
Among different members of Congress in attendance was Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the No. 3 Republican who was dealing with ire from members of her social gathering for becoming a member of Democrats in voting to question Mr. Trump. She paid her respects to Officer Sicknick alongside Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the fifth-ranking Democrat.
Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, for whom the ceremony bore some private significance, joined them in the crowd.
Mr. Scalise, the No. 2 Republican, was shot and gravely wounded at his social gathering’s congressional baseball staff observe in 2017. Two members of his Capitol Police safety element had been additionally injured as they fired at the gunman. When Mr. Scalise returned to the House ground three months later, he informed considered one of the officers, “You are my hero — you saved my life.”
Stephen Mallory, a safety aide on the Capitol Police pressure who knew Officer Sicknick as a quiet and laid again “nice guy,” mentioned he appreciated that the occasions had been a break from the common politics on Capitol Hill.
“It wasn’t Democrats against the Republicans,” he mentioned. “Everybody came together to show respect to the fallen officer.”
Officer Sicknick, 42, was amongst solely a handful of people that have lain in honor at the Capitol, a distinction reserved for personal residents, whereas authorities officers, most just lately Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, lie in state. The first two folks to lie in honor at the Capitol had been additionally members of the Capitol Police pressure, Officer Jacob J. Chestnut and Detective John M. Gibson, who had been killed in the line of responsibility in 1998.
Officer Chestnut’s spouse was available on Wednesday to honor Officer Sicknick in the Rotunda.
As his stays left the Capitol for the last time, Officer Sicknick was met by scores of Capitol Police officers, saluting the hearse because it made its means towards Arlington National Cemetery, the place he was to be interred.
“The family of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick thanks the congressional leadership for bestowing this historic honor on our fallen American hero,” his associate, Sandra Garza, and household mentioned in a press release earlier than the ceremonies. “Knowing our personal tragedy and loss is shared by our nation brings hope for healing.”
At least 183 folks have been charged in connection to the Capitol riot, and the F.B.I. continues to look for individuals who assaulted legislation enforcement officers on Jan. 6.
Officer Sicknick was “injured while physically engaging with protesters,” after which he returned to his division workplace, the Capitol Police mentioned. There, Officer Sicknick collapsed and later died in the hospital.
Gus Papathanasiou, the Capitol Police Union chairman, has mentioned practically 140 Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police officers had been injured in the assault. Some weren’t issued helmets, and one officer was stabbed with a metallic fence stake. Another has two cracked ribs and two smashed spinal disks, and a 3rd goes to lose his eye, Mr. Papathanasiou mentioned in a press release.
“The officers are angry, and I don’t blame them,” he mentioned. (*6*)
