SOUTH RIVER–United States Capitol Police (USCP) Officer Brian D. Sicknick passed away due to injuries sustained while on-duty.
Sicknick was responding to the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and was injured while physically engaging with protesters, according to information provided by the USCP.
He returned to his division office and collapsed, according to reports. He was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries at approximately 9:30 p.m. Jan. 7.
The death of Sicknick will be investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch, the USCP and federal partners.
Sicknick joined the USCP in July 2008, and most recently served in the department’s First Responder’s Unit.
Sicknick was originally from South River. Mayor John Krenzel said on Jan. 8 that he had spoken with one of Sicknick’s brother and that the family made a statement regarding his untimely death.
“The family of course is devastated. You don’t expect somebody to go to work in the morning and not come home at night. The only thing that was told [by the family] was ‘Brian did his job.’ The South River community is wounded because we are a small town. When something happens to one it happens to all. Not only do we offer condolences, but we offer our help. Whatever we could do, there’s not much we can do, but we still offer our help,” Krenzel said.
In memoriam for Sicknick, Krenzel said he has ordered the flags outside of the South River Criminal Justice building on Main Street to be raised half-staff.
“USCP Officer Brian Sicknick embodied the selfless spirit of his native state,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a prepared statement. “Officer Sicknick was a product of South River and a graduate of the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools.
“Before joining the Capitol Police, he was Staff Sgt. Sicknick with the New Jersey Air National Guard. He was a fire team member and leader with the 108th Security Force Squadron, 108th Wing, at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, and his six years of service included overseas deployments in support of Operation Southern Watch and Operation Enduring Freedom.
“Officer Sicknick gave his life protecting the United States Capitol, and by extension, our very democracy, from violent insurrection. His needless murder at the hands of a mob bent on overthrowing the Constitution he had dedicated his life to upholding is shocking. It is my fervent hope that the rioters whose actions directly contributed to his death are quickly identified and brought to justice,” Murphy said in the statement.
