The estate of Brian Sicknick, a Capitol Police officer who died after responding to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, is suing two rioters and former President Donald Trump for his alleged role in inciting the attack.
In his address before the Capitol brawl on Jan. 6, Trump ordered his supporters in Washington to "fight like hell" and "show strength," according to the lawsuit.
"As Officer Sicknick and hundreds of others-including other police officers, elected officials, and rank-and-file workers at the Capitol-were put in mortal danger, and as the seat of American Democracy was desecrated by the insurgent mob, Defendant Trump watched the events unfold on live television from the safety of the White House," lawyers for Sicknick's estate wrote in the complaint.
"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 civil lawsuit, which was filed on Thursday in a federal court in Washington, DC, is a further setback for the 2024 presidential candidate in his attempts to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power following his defeat in the election for president in 2020.
Trump is already a defendant in several other civil lawsuits connected to January 6, where he is claiming that as president, he is exempt from liability.
Additionally, the estate of Sicknick claims assault, negligence, and conspiracy.
The two other Capitol rioters named in the lawsuit, Julian Khater and George Tanios, entered pleas of guilty to breaches-related offenses last summer. Later this month, they will receive their sentences.
The Sicknick wrongful death allegation against Trump represents the most serious charge to date that the former president was responsible for the Jan. 6 uprising. During the riot, Khater took bear spray from Tanios' backpack and sprayed Sicknick and other officers in their faces, forcing them to retreat.
The day after the Capitol breach, Sicknick passed away from natural causes after suffering numerous strokes, according to a 2021 report by the chief medical examiner for DC. According to the examiner, Francisco Diaz, "all that transpired" on Jan. 6 "played a role in his condition."
The lawyers representing Sicknick are requesting more than $10 million in damages from the court.
Previous civil lawsuits against Trump have been filed by Democratic senators and other law enforcement personnel who responded to the Capitol incident. The federal appeals court in Washington, DC is debating whether to maintain a trial judge's decision that Trump might be held accountable for damages for his acts leading up to the incident.
If that case is successful, the Sicknick complaint will very certainly follow in its legal footsteps.
Some of the same lawyers who launched the Sicknick case were also involved in the current riot conspiracy case. Following the incident, another lawyer engaged in the Sicknick case represented other Capitol Police employees.
