An officer who died Thursday night from injuries suffered while defending the United States Capitol* was an avid supporter of President Donald Trump.
Officer Brian D. Sicknick, a 42-year-old member of the First Responder’s Unit, was “injured while physically engaging with protesters” during the breach of the Capitol on Wednesday, said a statement from U.S. Capitol Police.
Caroline Behringer, a former staffer who worked for Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), said Sicknick was a Trump supporter who traded political barbs with her and embraced her the day after President Trump won the 2016 election.
“As the 2016 election neared, Behringer said she and Sicknick, a supporter of the then-candidate Donald Trump, traded barbs and joked whether he would prevail over the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton,” reported USA Today.
“We would kind of trade jabs about who was going to win and kind of make fun of each other for our sides being in the lead,” the former Pelosi staffer recalled.
“The day after the election, Nov. 9, 2016, Behringer recalled being devastated by the outcome and struggling to face the day as she approached the Capitol Building,” the report said. “As she walked up, the doors had been thrown open by two other officers, a request made by Sicknick when he saw her approaching.”
“I collapsed into him in tears and I knew he was a Trump supporter – he was an outspoken Trump supporter – and he put that aside in that moment to comfort a friend and it was a small gesture of kindness, but one that has always stuck with me,” said Behringer.
Writing at the New York Post, Matthew Schmitz argued that prominent Democrats using the violent Capitol breach to smear and silence all Trump supporters are dishonoring Sicknick, who, of course, was a Trump supporter himself.
“Sicknick was a Trump supporter himself, as his friend Caroline Behringer announced shortly after his death. Far from sharing the views of the #Resistance, he had written letters to his congressman opposing Trump’s impeachment,” Schmitz said, adding, “Like many Trump supporters who are now being censored, he believed that the system is fundamentally rigged in favor of a narrow elite. He had used fiery rhetoric, even called for regime change in America.”
“The people who claim to honor Sicknick have elided these facts,” he continued. “Acknowledging them would undermine their effort to label the 75 million Americans who supported Trump as a domestic threat. Already, unelected Silicon Valley billionaires are using Sicknick’s death to justify censorship of views he expressed. Liberals are cheering the limitation of free speech. Leftists are applauding the exercise of corporate power.”
Over half a million dollars has been raised via a GoFundMe account created for Officer Sicknick’s family.
“There are no words to describe the loss of Officer Brian Sicknick,” the fundraiser reads. “He will forever be remembered for his bravery and service to our country as a member of the military and a United States Capitol Police Officer.”
A reported four others died during the chaos on Wednesday; three perished from “medical emergencies” and a female veteran named Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer.
*UPDATE (4/20/21): The Washington D.C. Medical Examiner has determined that Officer Brian Sicknick died of natural causes after suffering two strokes. The chief medical examiner says “all that transpired” on January 6 played “a role in his condition.” Read more here: D.C. Medical Examiner: Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick Suffered Two Strokes, Died Of Natural Causes