While federal authorities are still investigating the death of US Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick during the Capitol riot, but one leading theory is that his death was caused by bear spray, Insider reports.
Sicknick died one day after the riot after collapsing in his office. Capitol Police said in a statement last month that he was "injured while physically engaging with protestors” during the incident.
Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert J. Contee III said during a press conference last week that the investigation into Sicknick’s death remains ongoing, but investigators told CNN this week that the list of suspects have been narrowed down, and that the top theory is that he was fatally hit by the chemical irritant known as bear spray.
Video of the incident played during former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial shows some officers shouting during the attack that someone was using bear spray against them. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, confirmed on Wednesday that Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman told him that "he had to breathe a lot of bear spray and tear gas and that he was nauseated" during the riot.
Another officer responding to the incident, Metropolitan Police Officer Christina Laury told WJLA in January that "by the time I got there, officers were already getting, you know, sprayed with whatever these individuals had, which I believe they had bear mace, which is literally used for bears.”