Capitol Police officer to lie in honor in Rotunda
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced on Friday that Brian Sicknick, a Capitol Police officer who died from injuries suffered in the Jan. 6 riot, will lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda next week.
“The U.S. Congress is united in grief, gratitude and solemn appreciation for the service and sacrifice of Officer Brian Sicknick. … On behalf of the House of Representatives and the Senate, it is our great privilege to pay tribute to Officer Sicknick with this lying-in-honor ceremony,” Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement.
According to the announcement, Sicknick will lie in the Capitol Rotunda starting Tuesday night, with a viewing period starting for members of the U.S. Capitol Police starting at 10 p.m. A congressional tribute will be held Wednesday morning before Sicknick’s interment at Arlington National Cemetery.
The announcement comes amid support from lawmakers and the U.S. Capitol Police for Sicknick to receive the posthumous honor. Sicknick was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher during the riot and later died at a hospital.
“The heroism of Officer Sicknick and the Capitol Police force during the violent insurrection against our Capitol helped save lives, defend the temple of our democracy and ensure that the Congress was not diverted from our duty to the Constitution,” Pelosi and Schumer said in their joint statement. “His sacrifice reminds us every day of our obligation to our country and to the people we serve.”
Lying in state is typically reserved for government officials, but Sicknick will be the fifth private citizen to lay in honor, according to the Architect of the Capitol. Jacob Joseph Chestnut and John Michael Gibson, two Capitol Police officers, were the first private citizens to lay in honor in 1998.