Medical ruling: Capitol cop Sicknick died of natural causes

[Calista241]

Source: AP

Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was injured while confronting rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection, suffered a stroke and died from natural causes, the Washington, D.C., medical examiner’s office ruled Monday, a finding that lessens the chances that anyone will be charged in his death.

Investigators initially believed the officer was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher, based on statements collected early in the investigation, according to two people familiar with the case. And they later thought the 42-year-old Sicknick may have ingested a chemical substance — possibly bear spray — that may have contributed to his death.

But the determination of a natural cause of death means the medical examiner found that a medical condition alone caused his death — it was not brought on by an injury. The determination is likely to significantly inhibit the ability of federal prosecutors to bring homicide charges in Sicknick’s death.

Federal prosecutors have charged two men with using bear spray on Sicknick during the Jan. 6 riot. The arrests of George Tanios, 39, of Morgantown, West Virginia, and Julian Khater, 32, of Pennsylvania, were the closest federal prosecutors have come to identifying and charging anyone associated with the five deaths that happened during and after the riot.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-politics-homicide-b497800805aedae48b72bc4837b90042

[tblue37]

1. Stress can provoke stroke, and he was certainly stressed by the attack.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. I was going to say the same thing.

Stress is a medical condition.

Bring on stress and your body is flooded with cortisol from your adrenal glands, raising your heart rate and blood pressure. For a stroke to occur, you need a pre-existing condition with narrowing of the arteries in your neck (carotid arteries) and/or have an occlusion (blockage) in that location to prevent blood from reaching your brain.

I would theorize that having a large unruly mob attack you would be stressful and a heart attack or a stroke would be predictable.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

27. Yes it can

[pwb]

2. He was a pretty young man?

This doesn't smell right.

[speak easy]

3. Why is the United States a laughing stock? Exhibit A.

[AZ8theist]

28. Agreed

[electric_blue68]

52. hooo, boy, yeah... 🙄

[Richard D]

4. Wel . . .

. . that is bullshit.

[uponit7771]

6. Hmmm, can't being hit on the head cause a stroke? tia

[Calista241]

8. There would be evidence of that in an autopsy. No mention of it was found according

to the medical examiner.

[diverdownjt]

38. TBI...

Traumatic brain injury....wtf is wrong with this doctor...better find out which way he leans before we accept this.

[onecaliberal]

7. Oh for fucks sake.

[Haggard Celine]

9. Natural causes at 42.

I guess you could say that if you didn't take into consideration what happened immediately before he had the stroke. If somebody were to jump up from behind my sofa and give me a heart attack, I guess that would be natural causes, too, but the natural causes would have been induced by someone else's actions. Doesn't it just make sense to charge these people with bringing about the man's death?

[flying_wahini]

10. So the bear spray at high velocity was sprayed into his eyes and lungs

And the drugs in the spray caused his heart to stop.

How the hell is this not related. Throwing down the BullShit flag on this one.
Who the hell did this post mortum?

[BlueStater]

11. A stroke brought on from being attacked by traitors the previous day.

Yeah, not buying the astronomical (and highly convenient) coincidence that a 42 year old man just happened to pass away from a medical condition that the vast majority of people his age don’t die of the very day after being attacked by an angry, violent mob and the two, extremely unusual events were not connected in any way whatsoever. 🙄

[SergeStorms]

12. He died of natural causes...

in respect to naturally dying after being bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher and inhaling pepper spray, trying to repel hundreds of rabid fascists trying to overturn a free and fair election. Those "natural causes".

[SergeStorms]

23. You're right.

Looks like they could have phoned this one in on January 8th.

[Wuddles440]

25. I hope I'm wrong...

but you better prepare yourself for some major disappointment and disgust. I'm expecting most of the filth aka deplorables, who participated in the insurrection, not to suffer any significant consequences for their actions. Some may plea to minor charges and a few may be subjected to more high profile (show) prosecutions, but most of the insurrectionist will emerge unscathed and live to fight another day. While all of the participants (including their enablers in Congress and Don-the-Con) should be charged with sedition, it's highly likely none will be. Since the assault, the top priority of Pelosi and subsequently Biden should have been the investigation of this matter, sadly that has not been the case and the right wing propaganda machine has exploited this lack of commitment. The sad, ugly reality is that the only way the insurrectionist scum could have been held accountable for their actions was for them to have been met and repelled with a massive amount of deadly force on January 6th.

[old guy]

32. +1

[hadEnuf]

13. The Neo-Nazis in Charlottesville tried to say the woman they ran down was overweight and that's what

caused her death too.

Were the Capitol terrorists committing a felony? Does the felony-murder law have any bearing here?

[WinstonSmith4740]

14. My late husband had a very nasty stroke back in '96.

He was 54 at the time, and in otherwise excellent health. Strokes are caused by either an occluded (blocked) artery or an aneurysm, where it "explodes".

I'm not buying this...one of those conditions would have been obvious at autopsy, and as has been noted, nothing was mentioned. Who knows what getting hit with bear spray can do?

Interesting article...https://outdoormeta.com/can-bear-spray-kill-a-human/
snip:
In normal situations bear spray will not kill a human, although it will be incredibly uncomfortable or even painful and can do severe damage. However, for people with asthma, compromised lungs, or breathing problems, a high dosage could cause a fatal reaction. For healthy individuals, this is extremely unlikely.

So while it may be "unlikely" it can kill a person, who knows? I don't think there's ever been any research done on this. Maybe some of the insurrectionists will step forward to be a subject to see what the effects can be. Maybe being hit full on in the face with bear spray can cause blood clots.

Stress is a killer...Sicknick was exposed to a huge amount of stress that day. He could have had an underlying condition that was multiplied by what he went through.

Just like the bullshit defense in the Chauvin trial, trying to make it sound like George Floyd was on his last leg, and would have died regardless of what happened to him that day, this is the same. While strokes are not unheard of in people this young, they're also not common. A stroke might have been what killed him, but there's no doubt in my mind that what he went through that day caused the stroke. If those Trump humpers hadn't rioted that day, Sicknick probably would still be alive.

[WinstonSmith4740]

24. Exactly!

Anything can be life threatening if not used the way it was intended. Bear spray was never meant to be sprayed full on into someone's face...and those guys didn't do a quick spray. They were pouring it on. Used like that, who knows if it could cause a blood clot or lung damage...not enough oxygen to the brain, and you're in danger of a stroke. And I'm sure research has never been done on this because why would anyone spray a human being with this shit?

This is just another damned excuse from these racist bastards to justify their actions. I'm willing to bet the farm that if that had been a POC using that spray, they'd already be in jail on murder charges, and there would be "no doubt" that their actions caused Sicknick's death.

[SunSeeker]

50. Yup. Just like getting repeatedly tazed in the neck caused Officer Fanone's heart attack.

https://www.wusa9.com/amp/article/features/producers-picks/dc-police-officer-describes-fighting-for-his-life-as-rioters-dragged-him/65-5405dfde-6c19-4c99-9160-e8a3d4173987

[Marthe48]

18. I'd like a second opinion

n/t

[bdamomma]

39. exactly

I would second that opinion. Died of natural causes??? I heard that Sidenick talked to his brother on the night of the attack he told his brother he was fine, and then the next day he dies. Bear spray could have exacerbated his health situation.

I would also like to know if the ME was a trumpy.

[Tommymac]

19. No names mentioned. I'd like to see who the ME was.

I'm sure it will come out soon.

This just doesn't sit right with me.

[TheProle]

29. Francisco Diaz

https://ocme.dc.gov/page/executive-staff

[LiberalFighter]

20. Have to wonder about medical examiners political views.

He needs a new job.

[Mr. Ected]

21. Maybe medically, but not necessarily legally

If a particular rioter or rioters proximately caused his death, they could be held liable for it in civil proceedings.

[Luciferous]

22. Sounds like bullshit

[BarbD]

31. Exactly.

[barbtries]

30. 42 years old

and it was just that his number was up?!

i don't believe that.

[Deminpenn]

44. People die (relatively) young every day

from natural causes.

[SunSeeker]

48. People don't get hit in the head with a fire extinguisher and drenched in wasp/bear spray every day.

So you think the cop who had a heart attack after getting tazed repeatedly in the neck and dragged down stairs was just a "natural causes" thing?


https://www.wusa9.com/amp/article/features/producers-picks/dc-police-officer-describes-fighting-for-his-life-as-rioters-dragged-him/65-5405dfde-6c19-4c99-9160-e8a3d4173987

[barbtries]

51. i am entirely unconvinced

that what he endured during the insurrection did not cause or hasten his death.

[MichMan]

33. I believe the conclusion of a ME who actually performed the autopsy

over a bunch of non experts who are convinced he must be a liar

[TheProle]

36. Yep.

“Follow the science” apparently operates on a siding scale for some.

[niyad]

43. Does the name Dr. Thomas Noguche ring a bell?

[agincourt]

34. Ok, dying from a stroke instead of the fire extinguisher to the head and bear spray

ok, maybe he would have just died from the stroke even without the events of January 6th. Three months must pass to tell us this? I cannot blame people for thinking bull effing shit.

[IbogaProject]

35. Dead cop was pro trump

I read somewhere that the cop was pro trump. Just a rumor but the family may have been advocating that way, it also may unlock life insurance. It isn't ethical but that is the way autopsies go w the privileged.

[Rhiannon12866]

37. From Twitter:

Link to tweet

[niyad]

40. I thoug.ht that he was cremated almost immediately?

[Calista241]

41. His body was lying in state in the capital rotunda for at least a few days. n/t

[Coventina]

42. No, just his urn was.

He was already cremated at that point.

[Deminpenn]

45. The cremation would have been after the autopsy

nt

[SunSeeker]

46. Yeah, just like the Capitol Police officer who was tazed in the neck.

It was just a heart attack, right? Woulda happened even if the 40 year old Officer Fanone hadn't been repeatedly tazed in the neck and dragged down stairs?



https://www.wusa9.com/amp/article/features/producers-picks/dc-police-officer-describes-fighting-for-his-life-as-rioters-dragged-him/65-5405dfde-6c19-4c99-9160-e8a3d4173987

[Paladin]

47. "Natural causes," in the midst of the Jan. 6 coup attempt?

BullSHIT.

[joetheman]

49. He died from a stroke caused by the stress of being attacked ...with bear spray and other stuff.

There are other charges besides murder that can be brought by a smart lawyer. And the cultrits can still be thrown in jail for it.