Earlier this week, the body of Officer Brian Sicknick lay in state in the U.S. Capitol. Everyone honored his life and service.
But the government is having trouble building a murder case since there has still not been an official determination as to his cause of death. After being part of the force during the actions at the Capitol on Jan. 6, he went back to his office. Some hours later, he collapsed and then later died.
But what has been determined is that the story largely spread about his death, that a fire extinguisher hit him by protesters has been discounted, according to a CNN report, because they found no blunt force trauma to his body. There has been no evidence otherwise found, such as video or witnesses, that the incident even occurred.
Another incident involving a fire extinguisher being thrown at an officer, but that didn’t involve Sicknick, and the person allegedly involved in that was arrested.
We were one of the few media outlets who reported that Sicknick’s death might not have been because of a fire extinguisher, as was claimed in most of the media. As we reported on Jan. 10, that they could find no evidence to support that claim. Additionally, they also thought that an underlying medical condition might have contributed to his death.
So while they’re still not sure what may have caused his death officially, they are looking into any encounters, including whether he may have had a reaction to chemical agents that may have been deployed. He texted his brother that night that he had been pepper-sprayed twice but was in good shape. But so far, they haven’t found any interaction on video to confirm that or any other lethal cause that might have led to his death.
While reporting this information, CNN is still not reporting that there may have been an underlying medical condition as we previously reported. This is what they say in their report: “The case could also be complicated if Sicknick had a preexisting medical condition. It could not be learned if he did.” They may want to read our report or that of ABC, see Just the Facts: Death of Capitol Police Officer After Protest May Not Be as Initially Reported.
This is really media malpractice, completely leading millions to believe something that was untrue, that they should at least have reported as a question, not a determined fact as they have now for a month.
His family asked for his death not to be politicized, but some Democrats and some in media have completely ignored that over this time.
One also has to wonder what the hold up in the determination of the cause of death is. It’s been a month. Virtually any condition that would have caused someone to collapse and die could have been determined at this point. So it’s not clear what is holding up that determination. The police union chief and his family have indicated that they believe he died of a stroke, presumably because of what the hospital told them. But that hasn’t even been announced as the public cause of death. But from a legal point of view, the question would be if there was any precipitant of that from the conflict at the Capitol or not. But they don’t seem to have found one yet.
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