The estate of the Capitol Police officer who died of natural causes after being attacked in the Jan. 6 riot has filed a wrongful death suit against Donald Trump.
Brian Sicknick, 42, had suffered two strokes and died a day after the Capitol riot, and although a medical examiner said they weren’t caused by the injuries he sustained on January 6, 2020, his estate is going forward with a lawsuit against Trump.
The 47-page suit, filed just a day before the riot’s two-year anniversary, claims Trump ‘intentionally riled up the crowd and directed and encouraged a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol and attack those who opposed him.’
The suit also names Capitol rioters Julian Khater and George Tanios, who were accused of attacking Sicknick with pepper spray, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Sicknick’s estate is seeking at least $10 million for alleged wrongful death and conspiracy to violate the defendants’ civil rights, as well as aiding and abetting the assault on the officer.
The lawsuit comes after Sicknick’s family snubbed Republican leadership when Congress honored the officers who protected the Capitol in a ceremony last month.
Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, 42, (above) had suffered two strokes following the deadly Capitol riot. Although a medical examiner ruled that they weren’t caused by the injuries he sustained on January 6, 2020, his estate is going forward with a lawsuit against Trump
The lawsuit claims former President Donald Trump (above) bore direct responsibility for the officer’s death for allegedly inciting the violence at the Capitol
The lawsuit also names Capitol rioters Julian Khater (left) and George Tanios (right), who were accused of attacking Sicknick. Despite the allegations, prosecutors did not link either men to the officer’s death during their respective trials
Sicknick (above) suffered two strokes and died a day after the riot
Sicknick was among five people who died after the riot as a crowd of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol after being whipped up into a frenzy during a ‘Stop the Steal’ rally.
During the riot, Sicknick is said to have been sprayed with a chemical irritant, a pepper spray.
The lawsuit claimed Trump played a hand in Sicknick’s death after telling his supporters to ‘fight like hell’ when they marched to protest the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
‘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 lawsuit said.
‘The horrific events of January 6, 2021, including Officer Sicknick’s tragic, wrongful death, were a direct and foreseeable consequence of the Defendants’ unlawful actions,’ the suit added.
In a statement after filing the lawsuit, attorney Matt Kaiser said: ‘Nothing can return Officer Sicknick to his fiancee or his family, but this lawsuit is an important part of the process of holding those who caused his death accountable.
Former President Donald Trump called Khater and Tanios to Washington DC to attack the Capitol and they answered. This directly caused Officer Sicknick’s death.
Despite the estate’s claims, a medical examiner determined that Sicknick had suffered two devastating strokes in his brain stem, which caused a clot in an artery.
His manner of death was ruled ‘natural’, which is used when a disease alone causes death. The examiner’s office clarified that the manner of death is not considered natural if it is hastened by an injury.
Khater and Tanios, who will be sentenced on January 27 for their involvement in the riot and attack on officers, were not linked to Sicknick’s death during their trial.
Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment. Lawyers for Khater and Tanios could not immediately be reached.
The FBI said Khater and Tanios were among the people who clashed with police (above), and had pepper sprayed Sicknick
Sicknick was among five people who died after the riot as a crowd of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol after being whipped up into a frenzy during a ‘Stop the Steal’ rally
Pictured: Sicknick with his fiancee, Sandra Garza (right)
The lawsuit is the latest legal trouble for Trump regarding the deadly Capitol riot as he faces three other civil lawsuits similarly alleging he bears responsibility for the attack.
Trump had called on a Washington judge to dismiss the cases, but the bid was rejected.
The former president’s team then appealed the ruling, arguing that he should be immune from the civil lawsuits.
A US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit began reviewing the argument in December and has invited the Justice Department to speak on the matter.
Trump also faced scrutiny from the House Jan. 6 committee’s final report, which urged Congress to consider banning Donald Trump from ever holding public office again, as it accused him of a criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The panel released its 845-page report on Thursday evening, detailing 200 ways in which Trump and his allies tried to pressure officials into overturning state results.
The former president quickly dismissed the findings – the result of interviews with more than 1,000 witnesses – as a ‘witch hunt.’
Sicknick’s mother, Gladys Sicknick, was emotional during the ceremony to honor the cops who served that day
Members of the Capitol Police and DC Metropolitan Police Department gathered in the US Capitol rotunda to honor the law enforcement officers who fended off a mob of Donald Trump‘s supporters who wanted the 2020 election overturned.
Standing to accept the award on behalf of the police were Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger and DC Police Chief Robert Contee III, as well as members of fallen officer Brian Sicknick’s family. Sicknick suffered multiple strokes and died a day after he defended the US Capitol complex.
When it came time to present the medal, Sicknick’s parents and brother gave Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warm greetings, his mother even planting a kiss on the New York Democrat’s cheek.
GOP Senate leader McConnell, standing next to Schumer, appeared to extend his hand – which was ignored by each of Sicknick’s family members.
Sicknick’s mother, Gladys, called McConnell ‘two-faced’ in comments to CNN after the event for his failure to condemn his party’s efforts to change the narrative about January 6.
‘I’m just tired of them standing there and saying how wonderful the Capitol police is,’ she said. ‘And then they turn around and…go down to Mar-a-Lago and kiss [Trump’s] ring and come back and stand here and sit with – it just, it just hurts.’
Sicknick’s brother told NBC and a gaggle of reporters that McConnell and McCarthy represent the GOP’s failure to condemn the riot – and held them responsible for the Republicans who continue to downplay the insurrection.
‘It takes away everything my brother’s done. It takes away the heroism my brother’s shown,’ he said.