The City of West Hollywood is flying its flags at half staff in honor of United States Capitol Police Officers Brian D. Sicknick and Howard Liebengood. The flags will be flown at half-staff until January 13, 2021 at all city facilities.
Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknic died from injuries he sustained during the rioting of the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC on Wednesday, January 6, 2021.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi order the flags at the Capitol to be lowered to half-staff following Sicknick’s death.
“On behalf of the House of Representatives, I send our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Officer Brian D. Sicknick, who died after defending the Capitol complex and protecting those who serve and work here,” she said. “The perpetrators of Officer Sicknick’s death must be brought to justice.”
“My brother Brian was the youngest of three sons born to my parents in South River, NJ,” said his brother Ken Sicknick, in a statement on behalf of his family. “Brian, age 42, wanted to be a police officer his entire life. He joined the New Jersey Air National Guard as a means to that end. In doing so, he served his country honorably in both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Desert Shield, of which my family is very proud.”
US Capitol Police officer, Howard Liebengood died by suicide on Saturday, January 9, 2021, his family announced. According to a family lawyer, Liebengood had been at the Capitol during the insurrection by Trump supporters.
Officer Howard Liebengood had been assigned to the Senate Division and joined the department in 2005.
The riot at the Capitol began after President Donald Trump spoke at a rally near the White House. He spoke against the certification of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States while Congress was voting to certify the electoral votes. Trump told his supporters the election was rigged and told the crowd to stop the steal.
Four other people died during the attack on the Capitol. Among them was Ashli Babbitt, 35, an Air Force veteran from San Diego, California. She was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer as she tried to break through a broken window leading to the Speaker’s Lobby inside the Capitol.
