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The Sickening Sicknick Case

The Sickening Sicknick Case

As a father and grandfather – who lost a young grandson in Afghanistan – my heart aches for any family that faces the death of a young beloved member. 

The death of Capitol Hill police officer Brian Sicknick was a tragedy by all measures.

The fact that his death has been used as a political cudgel by the Democrat establishment is an obscenity atop a tragedy.  The fact that the bereaving family has made themselves a public centerpiece of the Democrat scheme diminishes the unbridled sympathy they deserve.

The obscenity began with the redefining of the death of young Sicknick.  He was on duty during the Capitol Hill riot.  He sustained no injuries – despite erroneous early news reports that he had been hit with a fire extinguisher and when that proved untrue that he had been gassed with bear repellant – which also proved untrue.

Sicknick died the next day. 

A thorough autopsy revealed that Sicknick died of “natural causes” – possibly related to an undetected heart condition.  Such cases are not uncommon.  We see young athletes succumb to that periodically.  According to the coroner, the body showed no signs of blunt trauma, bruising or toxic substances.

Despite the medical and scientific findings, Democrats went on a full-scale propaganda campaign to declare that Sicknick was “killed” as a result of the riot.  Their friends in the media picked up the fictional script.  Many reports intimated that he was killed at the riot.  Some even resurrected the debunked fire extinguisher story.

Almost immediately, Sicknick’s grieving mother was put on tour on the various left-wing media programs with a political message – Trump is responsible for the death of her son.  Mrs. Sicknick campaigned against Republicans across the county.  She said her son died because of “people like Kari Lake – the GOP gubernatorial candidate in Arizona.

For me, it mitigated some of the sympathies when I see the mother using her son’s death as a very specific partisan political narrative targeting Trump specifically and Republicans in general – especially when that narrative is based on false claims regarding the cause of death.

And the use of the grieving mother was not just a reaction to the moment, In the past two years, she and her family have appeared and reappeared as Democrats kept grinding their insurrection narrative. 

At the recent congressional event honoring the good efforts of the overpowered Capitol Hill police, the entire Sicknick family refused to shake hands with Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy – two GOP leaders who had nothing to do with the riot.

It was a premeditated plan to bring the Democrat’s mendacious narrative over the death of Officer Sicknick to the surface once again.  It was successful.  CNN and MSNBC gave extensive sympathetic coverage to the young officer’s mother and brother.  Never once in the interviews was it noted that Sicknick did not die as a result of injuries he suffered at the riot.  Quite the opposite.  

I feel sorry for their loss.  In my opinion, however, the family’s use of his death to so blatantly and opportunistically advance the Democrat’s – and their own – political agenda founded on false claims is reprehensible.  To me, it dishonors the tragic death of their family member.  

So, there ‘tis.

About The Author

Larry Horist

So, there ‘tis… The opinions, perspectives and analyses of businessman, conservative writer and political strategist Larry Horist. Larry has an extensive background in economics and public policy. For more than 40 years, he ran his own Chicago based consulting firm. His clients included such conservative icons as Steve Forbes and Milton Friedman. He has served as a consultant to the Nixon White House and travelled the country as a spokesman for President Reagan’s economic reforms. Larry professional emphasis has been on civil rights and education. He was consultant to both the Chicago and the Detroit boards of education, the Educational Choice Foundation, the Chicago Teachers Academy and the Chicago Academy for the Performing Arts. Larry has testified as an expert witness before numerous legislative bodies, including the U. S. Congress, and has lectured at colleges and universities, including Harvard, Northwestern and DePaul. He served as Executive Director of the City Club of Chicago, where he led a successful two-year campaign to save the historic Chicago Theatre from the wrecking ball. Larry has been a guest on hundreds of public affairs talk shows, and hosted his own program, “Chicago In Sight,” on WIND radio. An award-winning debater, his insightful and sometimes controversial commentaries have appeared on the editorial pages of newspapers across the nation. He is praised by audiences for his style, substance and sense of humor. Larry retired from his consulting business to devote his time to writing. His books include a humorous look at collecting, “The Acrapulators’ Guide”, and a more serious history of the Democratic Party’s role in de facto institutional racism, “Who Put Blacks in That PLACE? -- The Long Sad History of the Democratic Party’s Oppression of Black Americans ... to This Day”. Larry currently lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

17 Comments

  1. lin

    this is what the dems do best. LIE, LIE, LIE..DENY,DENY, DENY! The truth has no place in the democrats narrative!

    • Gp

      I agree…..

    • Crackerjack

      These demorats that caused this lis needs to be prosecuted

  2. Faith Gossett

    If the Sicknick family can a cause Republicans for his death, why are they immune to Sicknick s role in the death of 4 demonstrators on Jan. 6? Come on Republicans , put these people in their place.

  3. Tom

    I agree. Deceased people who cannot speak for themselves anymore should never be used in false narratives. Like you, I am sorry for her loss but abhorred by her use of her son’s death. People handle death very differently and it seems to me that the mother wants a hero legacy for her son and the Democratic Party’s left is more than happy to give that to her in exchange for false testimony. Very sad. I wonder if the deceased person would even want this? I do wonder if the mother/family is being compensated by the Democratic Party or one of their PACs? I do not believe they are being compensated but who knows? Now on the other side of the issue, Medical examiners determined that Sicknick suffered two strokes and died of natural causes the day after the riot. I believe that the mother is on a sort of crusade because she believes that had Jan 6 events not occured, her son would be alive. Well, really?

    There are two types of stroke: Ischemic stroke. Hemorrhagic stroke. In most cases, either form is a time bomb. In the case of Ischemic, this is a blockage of an artery which is something that builds over many years and then finally a blockage fully develops and kills brain tissue, or, it can be a clot wondering around the blood stream and finally lands in the brain. In Hemorrhagic, this is a break in the artery blood vessel that again, builds over years as a hardening of arteries (atherosclerosis), or, a weak spot in an artery that finally balloons (aneurysm) and bursts. Aneurysms that rupture or dissect can cause sudden death. High blood pressure is often associated with Hemorrhagic strokes, and we know that high blood pressure (HBP) is often called the “silent killer”. each year about 27,000 people in the U.S. have a ruptured brain aneurysm, which is a type of stroke. Medical science knows that family history plays a role,” according to Dr. Eser Tolunay of NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. “About 20% of aortic aneurysms have a genetic component.” Other factors that can weaken the walls of arteries and lead to aneurysms include smoking, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis (the buildup of fatty deposits in the arteries), infections and trauma, such as a car crash.

    To blame Jan 6th as the cause of death is unrealistic. It may have been the final and culminating event, but it was certainly not the cause! For a mother to parade around espousing Jan 6th as the man’s killer, blaming republicans for not investigating Jan 6th as a causality of the man’s death, shows a condition called “chronic grief” which is defined as grief that lasts more than 2-3 months and includes episodes such as depression, crying, severe feelings of loss, and suicidal idealization.

    This poor woman needs grief (bereavement) counseling, not protest appearances and opportunities to live the lie. I hope the Democratic Party will do the right thing for this poor woman and get her the bereavement counseling help she needs to heal from her son’s death because surely protests appearances and opportunities will not do this. And hating the GOP is misplaced anger and grief.

    • Tom

      For more on stroke and if you are at risk, see https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2010/03/when-blood-vessels-bulge, and, google “stroke association in my area” which will usually result in a list of cardio-stroke associations that usually meet in medical clinics and hospitals. Your local clinic or hospital is a great place to find this information.

  4. frank stetson

    It seems to me, IMO, that Larry believes that, Brian Sicknick, an American hero, who tragically loses his life shortly after being brutally assaulted during the Capitol Insurrection, is a “political cudgel by the Democrat establishment is an obscenity atop a tragedy.” Worse yet, Larry drones on about “the bereaving family has made themselves a public centerpiece of the Democrat scheme diminishes the unbridled sympathy they deserve.” So, Democrats and Sicknick’s family acceptance of Democrats has diminished Larry’s deserved sympathy, even as he notes his grandson, lost in that Republican-initiated, over-extended war in Afghanistan. I can see why Larry has harsh feelings over this; it is fair for him given his own tragic loss. I sympathize with his loss which, IMO, makes his blind rage understandable.

    But he is wrong as he purposely avoids the real truth, the facts as noted in court documents, as told by the perpetrators who pleaded guilty, guilty, guilty.

    BUSTED

    Come on man, enough with the partisan hate crap and cover the full story, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

    On January 6th, there was an orchestrated insurrection camouflaged inside a riot hidden inside a protest, all initiated and instigated by Donald J. Trump, in furtherance of his quest to overturn our duly authorized election, by the people, and to re-install himself as King of Amerika. Everyone agrees there was a protest. Most thinking humans can see a riot. And close to a dozen will be found guilty of seditious conspiracy to halt the election, reinstall Donald J. Trump to the Presidency, and take over the legitimately elected government of the United States of America.

    According to Britannica: “In the United States, insurrection against the authority of the federal government is a crime under 18 U.S. Code §2383, which provides that: Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.” Sure sounds like 1.6.2021 to this armchair general.

    Criminal referrals on Trump and his minions will be presented by Congress to the DOJ on Monday. The Capitol Insurrection was the last of a multi-part plan to retain the Presidency which started with the plan to overturn the election in the courts, followed by Trump’s plan to overturn the election via recounts. I think there were 5 to 7 Trump inspired plans for overturning the election in total, including the plan to replace electors with fakes, most of which had failed by 1.6.2021.

    For the Sicknick case, Larry is correct, stroke due to natural causes. But he did not include the entire record. No one will be charged for causing his death. Even though completely natural, the medical examiner stated, when asked about the assault Sicknick suffered on January 6, 2021, “all that transpired played a role in his condition.”

    Larry states: “He sustained no injuries – despite erroneous early news reports that he had been hit with a fire extinguisher and when that proved untrue that he had been gassed with bear repellant – which also proved untrue.” This is a lie. Larry knows better, he looked and he lied.

    Two fellows have been arrested for assaulting Sicknick on January 6, 2021, at the Capitol. One has pleaded guilty to assaulting Sicknick with a chemical spray. He said he did it Larry. Or are you parsing it down to “it’s bear spray or nothing?”

    The court documents show that Khater and Tanios came together to D.C. with their purchase, that is on record, of two cannisters of bear spray and two cannisters of pepper spray. Tanios stated he gave one cannister of pepper spray during their trip together to Khater t0 DC. They went to the rally; they heard Trump’s command to march on the Capitol and they joined the mob to commit illegal acts on the grounds.

    From video surveillance, Khater stood directly across from officers. At 2:23 p.m. that day, the mob using ropes and their hands pulled the bike rack barrier away. Seconds later, from inside eight feet, Khater sprays that pepper spray from his right hand at the officers. First, he got “Officer B.S.,” (court code name) in the face. He had to retreat for treatment for his wounds. Khater continues spraying, advancing and then sprays “Officer C.E.,” directly in her eyes from just a few feet away. Unable to see, she requires aid to retreat for treatment for her wounds. Khater then sprays “Officer D.C.,” a metro cop, right in the face. He retreats to recover, all three now incapacitated and unable to perform their duties.

    Khater and Tanios were arrested on March 14, 2021. Tanios pleaded guilty on July 27, 2022, to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds. The charges carry a combined statutory maximum of two years in prison and potential financial penalties.

    Khater pleaded guilty to this and to the assault on Officer Brian Sicknick with a chemical substance and faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison on each of the two counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon. The charges also carry potential financial penalties. His sentence was due on December 13th, 2022. Larry is correct that they can not determine that it was the bear spray, but he pleaded guilty to the chemical spray which the medical examiner said: “all that transpired played a role in his condition.”

    Common sense time: you have a heart condition, an attack waiting to happen. Does standing on the police line on 1.6.2021 a) make you healthier, b) have not affect or c) play a role in giving you the big one in a big way?

    Larry has gone a long way on this one to blame Democrats for everything: this time it’s their fault for bad things that happened on 1.6.2021 and the resulting aftermath of condemnation, investigation, and prosecution. Just wow. Why would he want to sweep the events of that day under the carpet,

    These guys, and others, assaulted this man in furtherance of overturing the people’s choice in furtherance of Donald J. Trump continuing to rule America as despot-in-chief. The medical examiner noted that all that happened that day contributed to his existing condition. No one has said it helped.

    I think prudent people know who to blame for those tragic events and it’s not the Democrats or Sicknick’s family. The fact they are today seems appropriate given the medical examiner and sure not worthy of condemnation instead of understanding. We know who to blame. We know the root cause and it sure is not The Big Lie.

    • larry Horist

      Frank Stetson … Once again you are the Oracle of Disinformation. Sicknick died of natural causes — a fatal stroke that was not cause by his involvement in the riot. Those things are natural undetected weakness. His body showed no injury from a physical blow and there were no toxins in his body … period. When you see a report of a young high school student dropping dead during a football game from an undetected heart condition, you do blame the football game … especially is it happens more than 24 hours later. Sorry, Dr. Stetson … you a quack,

  5. Mike F

    Larry, you know what is reprehensible-an uneducated person pretending that he knows something about medical conditions and feels qualified to give a BS analysis of a medical issue. There is little question that Sicknick would be alive today if it were not for the asshole in chief stirring up his maggots to storm the Capitol on January 6th. Sicknick’s demise was due to a condition that was exacerbated by the stress of his fellow countrymen breaking into the Capitol, which he had taken an oath to protect. As for his family refusing to shake the hands of McCarthy and Moscow Mitch-that was due to the weakness they showed in not holding Trump accountable for his actions. Shame on you for writing this disgusting piece of fiction in an ongoing attempt to smear the dems….

    • larry Horist

      Mike F … Talk about backward logic. I am reporting what was said by the medical examiner. You are claiming that Sicknick would be alive today if it were not for the riot. You have no way of knowing that — especially since what killed him appears to have been a physical time bomb. You challenge the professional opinion of the medical examiner (I am only reporting it) .. make a preposterous statement like a circus fortune teller — and then question my informed opinion, You are practicing medicine without a license … or a brain.

  6. AC

    Larry,
    Question is, would the office have passed away when he did, had the 1/6 riot not occurred?
    Possibly, he would have. We will never know. But, the autopsy revealed a life consequential condition that would be like a time bomb left undetected.
    The physical and emotional stress that day experienced by Capital Police certainly exacerbated his pre-existing undiagnosed condition.
    That he autopsy did not discover physical bruising or internal organ sufficient for causing death, he did experience existential emotional trauma with his fellow officers that day. The others lived to testify of what they were made to endure defending their life . While they did their job defending the Capital Building and all those important people inside, the argument can be made that for Officer Sicknick the beating he took emotionally had a fatal impact on his heart’s condition. Therefore, his death was a direct result from the day’s events’ taking its toll on him individually. Legitimately, his death is a tragic statistic added to the total sum of the many costs compounded for We, the people on 1/6/2021.
    I think Democrats over played their hand dealt by Republicans’ behavior, rhetoric, and reactions stemming from events on 1/6. Although you,Larry, disagree there was and is justification for investigation by House Democrats into the factors at play relevant to the attack.
    Officer Sicknick’s death should not have aroused the level of controversy people and media spread nor should his grieving mother been given the much inappropriate attention of Democrats and media. She deserved sympathy and space for privacy in grief. She was failed by those ended up exploiting her circumstance.
    As a mention: Reports came afterwards, that at least one individual committed suicide upon returning home from Washington and having been a combatant participant in the mon assault.
    What of this person and possibly others like that taking their own life very soon afterwards?
    I believe the families of those individuals who died prematurely by suicide are saying, their loved one’s death was a direct consequence of participation on 1/6 in the attack.
    But, their stories comprise a whole other narrative less considered and not noted in statics compiled for the record.
    Not being partial to the right or left politically, I find trouble coming out of both perspectives. Born and raised in a conservative right neighborhood located smack in the middle of a state region consistently going red, I understand the perspective taken by the right. At home paternal influence came predominately out of the moderate left, while maternal contribution was oriented toward the party on the conservative side. All considered I vowed independent in political philosophy had more advantages. University influences from various disciplines and programs only broaden personal perspective. Graduating with masters level courses in business contributed depth in perspective to a world view determined to observe seeking objectivity. Which, became a challenge in discernment, as the majority of inputs received relating with people across differing perspectives offering information pointedly monotone.
    The late 1960’s onwards through succeeding decades finding objective truth in an increasingly prejudice laden bias driven conflict seeking social environment. Anger, hostility, and defiance toward authority, government and traditional control factors alike grew to be common place. What has always kept sanity possible is objective facts unwavering anchored in truth.
    Then, 2K, the year 2000 approached. Conspiracy theories for-telling of wide spread disasters and calamities churned out propaganda and fear followed. The objective true circumstance that few if any factors in life’s smooth running would be affected when 1999 flipped to 2000. And, the world did not, in fact, falter and collapse from central data processing digital malfunction.
    The crazies would not be calmed. When one imagined disaster of human derivation becomes the new thing but fails predictions. Another like it grabs onto public attention with no more science for substantiation.
    Apparently, wisdom coming from history’s pages, like “Fear is to be feared more than fear itself “ does not resonate much these days. Fear is recognized for its motivating power by those with power who employ fear as leverage to sustain and retain power and position.
    Fear is like virus for which the vaccine is knowledge of and belief in the truth. Because finding what is true evidenced in facts and its discovery involves digging through junk theories until it’s finally discovered is not easily done. Most would rather take the low hang fruit or fruit on the ground slap called misinformation and worse, disinformation.
    The virus that is fear is highly contagious and spreads fast infecting those most susceptible, the willfully misinformed. stubbornly ignorant, and intoxicated by charismatic propagandists.
    Republicans in mainstream America are afraid of the truth and disparage people who do not agree with them. They thrive on and are proud of their divisiveness. As their position is their life philosophy and their identity, it personal with them. It is the hill they chose to defend or die on of must be.

    • larry Horist

      Ac ,,, in your initial comment, we seem to agree. It appears to be a physical timebomb that went off, It did not happen at peak tension — when he was in the midst of the riot — but rather when he was away from the situation for a day. A time of considerably less stress.

      While some like to twist and distract, I have never questioned Sicknick’s heroics and good work at the riot. He is to be commended, for sure. I only push back against a mendacious politically motivated narrative being advance by others. His death was a tragedy, but not by anything that happened to him 24 hours earlier. So sayeth the coroner — the only medical authority. The rest is political bull crap.

  7. Theodore

    Talk about your medical hacks. Frank, you are a hypocritical bullshit artist that spews nothing but hate on a daily basis. Mike F, you are not that far behind Frank, except I don’t see you here every day spewing crap. And last, and probably least, AC. you ramble on and on without really saying anything other than the fact that everything must be Trump’s fault. Orange man bad. I’m so damb sick of this hypocritical crap from you haters that I just had to cut loose and give you my opinion of you and your lower than whale crap opinions. (No, they are not facts Frank. Just like you, they are just BS).

  8. Frank stetson

    Nice vitriolic rabid rant.

    Got proof?

    • larry Horist

      Frank Stetson ….. YOU are the proof. Your inventions and lies are catching up with you.

  9. AC

    That’s all I have to say about that.
    Forrest Gump, Esq.
    Proof enough?

    That readers feel a need to attack. It’s sad it’s come to that. Don’t understand something? Oh, that’s a fact.
    It’s my story, my opinion, take it or leave it. There’s enough to go around, opinions that is. And, no one’s should be regarded as gospel, Not Larry’s, not Joe’s, not anybody’s posting on PBP. It’s just information received, taken for consideration (fact checking) or for nothing at all.
    And, that’s that, you all.

  10. Lyudmila

    Why does the Siknik family keep insisting on the lies of the Democrats? They do know the truth! Is money really more valuable than the honest name of a loved one?