Reports of Officer Sicknick Being Beaten to Death with a Fire Extinguisher Were Fake News
New details have emerged on the death of Capitol Hill Police officer Brian Sicknick who died on Jan. 7 after the Capitol riot. It turns out he died of natural causes.
The mainstream media painted a picture claiming Sicknick's death as the direct result of injuries from being attacked, spreading fake news about him being killed by blunt force trauma from a fire extinguisher by pro-Trump supporters. But the news media didn’t have their facts right at all.
The D.C. chief medical examiner reported on Monday that Sicknick actually suffered from multiple strokes and died of natural causes.
Dr. Francisco J. Diaz told The Washington Post that Sicknick died from "acute brainstem and cerebellar infarcts due to basilar artery thrombosis," indicating that he had a serious stroke.
The recent development will likely hinder efforts by prosecutors to pursue homicide charges in the officer's death.
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Federal prosecutors had charged two men with using bear spray on Sicknick during the Jan. 6 riot. The arrests of George Tanios, 39, of West Virginia, and Julian Khater, 32, of Pennsylvania, were the closest federal prosecutors came to identifying and charging anyone associated with the five deaths that happened during and after the riot.
The New York Times, as well as other media outlets, originally reported that Sicknick died from "brain injuries he sustained after Trump loyalists who overtook the complex struck him in the head with a fire extinguisher, according to two law enforcement officials."
The Times amended their article in February and removed some of the false information. Incidentally, the publication updated the material one day before former President Trump was exonerated in the Senate impeachment trial.
Despite the medical examiner's findings, the Capitol Police is making it clear that Sicknick still died a hero after "courageously defending Congress and the Capitol."
Meanwhile, the medical examiner’s report has garnered multiple comments on social media about the incorrect claims made by certain news sources.
"Journalists were wrong about this story as well," tweeted Dan Gainor. "Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died from strokes one day after Jan. 6 riot, D.C. chief medical examiner rules."
Journalists were wrong about this story as well. | Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died from strokes one day after Jan. 6 riot, D.C. chief medical examiner rules - The Washington Post https://t.co/xc6z1n6F7D
— Dan Gainor (@dangainor) April 19, 2021
Journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote, "The most amazing thing of all is these same outlets that keep drowning the country in lies and disinformation are the ones demanding ordinary citizens be censored from the internet because *they're* spreading disinformation."
The most amazing thing of all is these same outlets that keep drowning the country in lies and disinformation are the ones demanding ordinary citizens be censored from the internet because *they're* spreading disinformation.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 19, 2021
The most Fake News, by far, is spread by these outlets
Another follower tweeted, "From the very first day, the silence and lack of transparency on this case has been really really striking."
From the very first day, the silence and lack of transparency on this case has been really really striking. https://t.co/ZH3KBDJHxH
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) April 19, 2021
Sicknick was honored on Feb. 3 during a ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda, then interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
