Police have confirmed more charges against rioters who stormed the US Capitol, as more graphic details of violence and brutality emerge.
By Saturday, prosecutors had filed 17 cases in federal district court and 40 in District of Columbia superior court for offenses ranging from assaulting police officers to entering restricted areas, stealing federal property and threatening lawmakers.
Donald Trump seems certain to be impeached over the riot, which he incited in remarks to supporters outside the White House. South Carolina Democrat James Clyburn told Fox News Sunday the House could vote to impeach as early as this week, but may wait months to submit the articles for a trial in the Senate.
“If we are the people’s House, let’s do the people’s work and let’s vote to impeach this president,” the House majority whip said.
As politicians contended over Trump’s fate, alarming footage of the riot continued to emerge. Some captured a bloodied officer being crushed in a doorway and screaming. Other officers were reportedly beaten with pipes, with one seen tumbling over a railing into a crowd below. The officer had been body-slammed from behind.
Brian Sicknick, 42 and a 12-year veteran officer, died after he was struck in the head with a fire extinguisher while “physically engaging” the rioters, according to a statement from Capitol police.
On Sunday it was reported that another Capitol officer had died, though the cause of death was not released. Speaking to CBS’s Face the Nation, the Missouri senator Roy Blunt said: “Officer Sicknick, now Officer [Howard] Liebengood, both their lives were ended this week. I’ll be interested in finding out if there was a connection with Officer Liebengood.
“But mostly I’m interested in reaching out to both of these families. These are people we saw every day, particularly Officer Liebengood, who was very much assigned to the Senate side of the building. And, you know, you have that loss.
“You have four other deaths of people who got involved in something that they absolutely should not have gotten involved in.”
One pro-Trump rioter was shot and killed by law enforcement. The other deaths involved medical emergencies.
The attack forced lawmakers to go into hiding for hours, delaying their voting to affirm Joe Biden’s election win.
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
