Capitol police officer injured during congressional raid dies

BarcelonaCapitol police officer Brian D. Sicknick, who was injured during the assault on the U.S. Congress, died Thursday after more than 24 hours of convalescence, bringing the number of deaths related to the incidents to five. According to a spokeswoman for the police force, Sicknick, after physically confronting the protesters who invaded Congress, suffered a "collapse", for which he was taken to hospital.

"The entire Capitol Police Department extends its condolences to Officer Sicknick's family and friends for their loss", the corps' press release said. Prior to this writing, however, CNN had already advanced his death and the Capitol Police had denied it.

According to The New York Times, as many as 50 police officers were injured when protesters barricaded themselves in, threw objects, kicked down doors and broke windows, and this was too much for some police members, like Sicknick, who were trying to stop the protesters from advancing throughout the building. Sicknick had been working for the force since 2008.

Ashli Babbitt: Pro-Trump War Veteran

With Sicknick's death, five people lost their lives during the assault on Congress. One of them is Ashli Babbitt. "Save the Republic", "The Storm is the People" or "Nothing will stop us" are some of her last retuits before storming the Capitol. For days she had been tweeting messages on this topic - also against the obligation to wear a face mask and in favour of the liberation of Julian Assange - and sharing conspiratorial proclamations made by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, against the legitimacy of the results of the last American elections.

Babbit died the day president-elect Joe Biden was due to be ratified. Just as she was trying to avoid this, a Capitol police officer shot her in the head. In the video that has been shared through the internet you can see how the officer, who has been removed from the force while waiting for the due investigation to take place, is trying to keep everyone from walking through a door inside Congress. In a moment of tension, when Babbit finally seems to be able to get through one of the broken glass doors, the policeman shoots her and she falls into the crowd.

Thanks to this video and security camera footage, Capitol Police have been able to identify Babbit as one of the victims of the congressional assault that Trump encouraged. Babbit, 35, was a war veteran who had served twice in Afghanistan and Iraq. She was from San Diego, California, and on social networks she declared herself a libertarian and stressed that she loved her partner, her dog and, above all, her country.

According to the BBC, the victim's husband, with whom she ran a pool-cleaning business, did not go to Washington due to work reasons, and her mother-in-law disapproved of Ashli's involvement in the Capitol assault on Fox television. "I really don't know why she did it", she said.

The other three dead people identified by authorities are also protesters: Benjamin Phillips, 50, from Ri, Pennsylvania; Kevin Greeson, 55, from Athens, Alabama; and Rosanne Boyland, 34, from Kennesaw, Georgia.