The estate of Brian Sicknick, the Capitol Police officer who died a day after responding to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, sued Donald Trump on Thursday, alleging the former president and his “false and incendiary” rhetoric had a hand in the officer’s death.
In their 47-page suit, attorneys for Sicknick’s estate traced the officer’s death back to Trump, who urged a mob of his supporters to “fight like hell” and “show strength” in a speech hours before the assault on the Capitol.
Also named in the wrongful death complaint, which was filed in Washington, D.C.’s federal court, were Julian Khater and George Tanios, two rioters who pleaded guilty to related crimes last year. Prosecutors in their cases did not argue the pair had directly caused Sicknick’s death.
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On Jan. 6, Khater, a Pennsylvania smoothie shop owner, sprayed several law enforcement officers, including Sicknick, in the face with chemical irritant that he referred to as “bear shit.” Tanios, a West Virginia sandwich shop owner, supplied and carried the chemicals.
“Through his words and conduct, Defendant Trump endorsed and ratified the violent actions of the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol, including Defendants Khater and Tanios,” the lawsuit says.
Both Khater and Tanios are set to be sentenced on Jan. 27.
“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 lawsuit explains. “As such, the Defendants are responsible for the injury and destruction that followed.”
The civil complaint also alleges conspiracy, negligence, and assault. The estate is seeking at least $10 million in damages.
Sicknick, 42, died after suffering multiple strokes, with a medical examiner’s office attributing his death to natural causes in April 2021. The examiner told The Washington Post, however, that the events of Jan. 6 had “played a role in his condition.”
The U.S. Capitol Police subsequently issued a statement drawing a direct line between the riots and Sicknick’s death, saying, “This does not change the fact Officer Sicknick died in the line of duty, courageously defending Congress and the Capitol.”
On Friday, President Joe Biden is set to observe the second anniversary of the insurrection by awarding the Presidential Citizens Medal—the nation’s second-highest civilian honor—to half a dozen officers who defended the Capitol that day. He is also expected to honor Sicknick with a posthumous medal.
Thursday’s lawsuit only adds to a mounting pile of legal woes for the former president, who last August lost a bid to dismiss three other civil claims brought by Democratic lawmakers and law enforcement officers injured during the riots.
