Rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty
The family of a U.S. Capitol police officer who died of a series of strokes one day after being assaulted during the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol is slamming Tucker Carlson after the Fox News host aired footage of the riots and said the narrative surrounding the officer’s death was “a lie.”
The family of fallen officerBrian Sicknickissued their statement hours after Carlson claimed on his broadcast: “To this day, media accounts describe Sicknick as someone who was ‘slain’ on January 6th. The video we reviewed proves that is a lie.”
Carlson then aired portions of surveillance footage that show Sicknick walking in the Capitol after the attack took place.
As has been widely reported, 42-year-old Sicknick died one day after the riots, during which he was pepper-sprayed directly in the face (the man who attacked him and other officers wassentencedto 80 months in prison earlier this year).
Sicknick’sofficial cause of deathwas “acute brainstem and cerebellar infarcts due to acute basilar artery thrombosis,” according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Brendan Smialowski-Pool/Getty
The family added: “On video, Officer Sicknick looks like he managed to shake off the chemical irritants and resume his duties. That he did, but his sense of duty and incredible work ethic were the driving force which sent him back in spite of his injuries and no doubt contributed to his succumbing to his injuries the following day.”
“Every time the pain of that day seems to have ebbed a bit, organizations like Fox rip our wounds wide open again and we are frankly sick of it. Leave us the hell alone,” the statement continued."
McCarthy, when asked why he provided footage exclusively to Carlson, has accused other networks of being “jealous,” saying: “People like exclusives, and Tucker is someone that’s been asking for it. So I let him come in and see it, but everyone’s going to get it.”
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But privately, according to text and email conversations obtained during legal proceedings, Carlson has been harshly critical of Trump, particularly in the hours after the riots.
Hours after the violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol that day,Carlson text-messaged a colleaguethat the then-president was “a demonic force, a destroyer.”
source: people.com
