The couple of police officer Brian Sicknick, attacked during the assault on the Capitol and who died a day later, filed a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump.
Brian Sicknick suffered a seizure during the assault on the Capitol. A day later he died from his injuries. Two years after the fatal event, the uniformed couple sued former President Donald Trump for what happened.
The lawsuit, filed January 5 night in federal court in Washington, came on the eve of the anniversary of the storming of the Capitol, which left five dead, including Sicknick, and injured hundreds.
Sandra GarzaSicknick’s partner, points out in the court document that the agent’s death was a “direct and foreseeable consequence” of Trump’s words in a speech to his supporters on January 6.
The then president delivered an incendiary speech from the White House before the assault on the Capitol took place in which he urged his supporters to march towards the headquarters of Congress, amid their unfounded allegations that electoral fraud had occurred in the 2020 presidential election.
Demand individualizes attackers
The lawsuit also names two assailants, Julian Khater y George Tanios, for having assaulted Sicknick, spraying him with bear repellent and rendering him incapacitated “to defend himself against the mob.” Khater and Tanios pleaded guilty last year to charges related to the assault on the Capitol and are awaiting sentencing.
Although a coroner determined at the time that Sicknick’s death was “natural” due to a stroke, Garza’s attorneys assert in the lawsuit that “all the events of January 6 (…) played a role in the condition that led to deathfrom the policeman.
Sicknick belonged to the Capitol Police force.
The Lawsuit seeks charges against Trump and the two assailants with wrongful death and conspiracy to violate civil rights. They also propose assault charges against Khater and Tanios and an additional one against Trump for aiding and abetting the assault on the police officer. The lawyers in turn ask for a minimum of 10 million dollars as compensation to each of the defendants.
This Friday at the Capitol, Democratic legislators observed a minute’s silence in honor of the police victims of the assault, since in addition to Sicknick there were 140 seriously injured officers. The rest of the deceased, four, were Trump supporters. Sicknick, who died at the age of 42, has been with the Capitol Police force since 2008.
According to data from the authorities, about 140 agents were attacked by protesters in favor of the then presidentwho were armed with axes, bats, hockey sticks and other weapons.
On January 6, 2021, hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the headquarters of Congress, when a joint session of the two chambers was being held to ratify the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the November 2020 elections.