The longtime partner of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick filed a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump and two others after Sicknick was assaulted during the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Lawyers for his partner, Sandra Garza, and his estate filed the lawsuit on Thursday, seeking $10 million from the defendants under claims of wrongful death and conspiracy to violate civil rights. Sicknick died of natural causes and suffered two strokes after being assaulted with chemical spray during the insurrection.
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Washington, D.C.’s Chief Medical Examiner Francisco J. Diaz told the Washington Post after an autopsy was conducted that the events of Jan. 6 played a role in Sicknick’s death.
“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 stated, per Axios.
The lawsuit names Jan. 6 rioters George Tanios and Julian Khater as defendants alongside Trump. Tanios, 40, pleaded guilty to lesser charges connected to the riot in July 2022, and Khater pleaded guilty in September 2022. Tanios admitted to bringing two cans of chemical spray into the Capitol and, along with Khater, doused Sicknick and two of his colleagues on Jan. 6.
“Before directing the mob to the U.S. Capitol, Defendant Trump instructed them to ‘fight like hell’ and declared that ‘you’re allowed to go by very different rules’ and ‘you have to show strength,'” the lawsuit alleged. “Defendant Trump intended these words to be taken literally.”
The lawsuit claimed Trump “intentionally riled up the crowd” and directed the mob to attack the Capitol and people who opposed them.
“The violence that followed, and the injuries that violence caused, including the injuries sustained by Officer Sicknick and his eventual death, were reasonable and foreseeable consequences of Defendant Trump’s words and conduct,” the lawsuit stated.
Garza has previously told PBS NewsHour she holds Trump “100% responsible” for the death of her partner and that he “needs to be in prison.”
In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Trump wrote that the former president is “immune from frivolous attacks.”
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“President Trump clearly and unequivocally stated that Americans should ‘peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard,'” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Axios.
Sentencing for Khater and Tanios is scheduled for Jan. 27 after being pushed back from an original date in December.
