President Joe Biden paid tribute to the murdered policeman Brian Sicknick, whose remains received the rare distinction of lying in honor at the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday night.
Sicknick’s cremated remains arrived on the Eastern Front of the Capitol and were placed at the Rotunda at night to allow his colleagues and lawmakers to honor the officer.
Biden and First Lady Jill Biden raised their hands to their hearts and the President made the sign of the cross while they were near Sicknick’s urn and a folded American flag.
“This flag was raised on the United States Capitol by the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, President of the United States House of Representatives, in honor of Officer Brian D. Sicknick’s life and distinguished service. January 7, 2021,” says a sign holding the frame the flag.
Members of Congress will attend the screening and pay tribute to Sicknick on Wednesday morning, with comments from Mayor Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y.
“On behalf of the House of Representatives and the Senate, it is our great privilege to pay tribute to Officer Sicknick with this lie ceremony in honor,” said Pelosi and Schumer in an earlier statement. “May this ceremony and the knowledge that so many cry and pray for them be a comfort to Officer Sicknick’s family during this sad time.”
Sicknick, who was 42, died after defending the Capitol on January 6 against a crowd that broke into the building and tried to usurp the electoral count after then President Donald Trump asked supporters at a rally to “fight like hell” shortly before lawmakers and former Vice President Mike Pence convened for a joint session of Congress.
Trump is expected to face his second Senate impeachment trial next week on charges of inciting the riot that left five people dead.
Sicknick, who served in the New Jersey Air National Guard before joining the Capitol Police in 2008, was injured “while physically engaging with the protesters” and returned to his division’s office, where he passed out, the Capitol Police said in a communicated. He was taken to a hospital, where he died around 9:30 pm on January 7.
Only four other private citizens in history paid tribute: in 1998, two other Capitol police officers – Jacob Joseph Chestnut and John Michael Gibson – after being killed in the line of duty, civil rights icon Rosa Parks in 2005 and Rev. Billy Graham in 2018.
Sicknick’s remains will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
“The family of US Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick thanks the Congressional leadership for bestowing this historic honor on our dead American hero,” said a previous statement by the Sicknick family, released by a spokeswoman for the Capitol Police… to the millions of people who offered their support and solidarity during this difficult period. Knowing that our tragedy and personal loss is shared by our nation brings hope for a cure. ”
Frank Thorp V contributed.