The FBI has identified a Trump rioter as the suspect in the fatal attack on police officer Brian Sicknick during the storming of the Capitol last month, several media outlets reported Friday.
Officer Sicknick, 42, died the following evening after apparently suffering fatal injuries while defending the U.S. Capitol against rioting Donald Trump supporters seeking to overturn the results of the presidential election. Sicknick was one of five people to die during the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Two other police officers died by suicide in the days after.
FBI officials told The New York Times that homicide investigators began to suspect that bear spray may have been linked to Sicknick’s death. The individual spotted on the video attacked several officers with bear spray, including Sicknick, and also discussed using the spray on police in a video, according to the Times.
Chemical irritants such as bear spray, mace and pepper spray are considered “less lethal” weapons by law enforcement, but they could trigger a serious allergic reaction or more powerfully affect someone with underlying health issues.
Four other people died during the riot. Two other officers who tried to defend the Capitol later died by suicide. At least 138 police officers suffered injuries.
More than 300 people have been charged in the insurrection as of Thursday, and some 280 have been arrested, acting Deputy Attorney General John Carlin said Friday.
The Department of Justice did not release the name of the suspect in Sicknick’s death.
