The U.S. Capitol Police officer who was attacked with bear spray during the Jan. 6 insurrection suffered two strokes a day later that caused his death, according to the results of an autopsy by the District of Columbia’s chief medical examiner.
The ruling by Medical Examiner Francisco Diaz will likely preclude prosecutors from pursuing homicide charges in the case.
The findings released Monday in the death of Officer Brian Sicknick were first reported by The Washington Post.
Two men were charged with assault last month after they were shown on video spraying Sicknick with bear repellant during the siege, however, the medical examiner’s report found no evidence that the 42-year-old officer suffered an allergic reaction to the chemicals, which would have caused his throat to seize.
Authorities never officially determined whether the actions of Julian Elie Khater, 32, of Pennsylvania and George Pierre Tanios, 39, of Morgantown, West Virginia, caused Sicknick’s death.
Diaz told the Post on Monday that Sicknick suffered two strokes at the base of the brain stem caused by a clot in an artery that supplies blood to that area of the body.
Citing medical privacy laws, Diaz would not reveal whether Sicknick had a preexisting medical condition.
The officer’s body also showed no evidence of internal or external injuries, but Diaz noted that the riot and “all that transpired played a role in his condition,” the Post reported.
After being sprayed, Sicknick retreated to his office and collapsed. He was then taken to a hospital where he died one day after the riot carried out by supporters of former President Donald Trump who were riled up after months of false claims that widespread voter fraud got Joe Biden elected and cheated the incumbent out of a second term.
Video recorded during the mayhem shows Khater telling Tanios to “Give me that bear s---” as they confronted officers at the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol. Sicknick was among a small cadre of officers standing guard behind metal bicycle racks, according to the arrest report.
At one point in the video, Khater is seen spraying Sicknick and two other officers in the face with a canister of bear spray, according to arrest records.
The officers immediately sought water to rinse out their eyes, according to charging documents.
Sicknick was among five people who died during the uprising. Four were civilians, three of whom suffered health-related emergencies. One woman was shot dead by an officer after she tried to enter the building through a broken window.
In early February, Sicknick’s remains were honored in the Capitol Rotunda, where President Biden, first lady Jill Biden and lawmakers paid their respects to the 13-year Capitol Police veteran.
Two days after the uprising, then-Acting U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen said Sicknick died of “the injuries he suffered defending the U.S. Capitol” and vowed to “spare no resources in investigating and holding accountable those responsible.”
Aside from the alleged assault on Sicknick, Khater and Tanios face several counts of civil disorder and obstruction of a congressional proceeding, and each could face 20 years in prison if convicted.
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