The narrative surrounding Captiol Police Officer Brian Sicknick’s death was set in stone on January 7, 2021, when he died. However, the narrative is not the truth, and the civil lawsuit being filed by his estate and his “longtime partner” is questionably flimsy at best.

Here was the narrative, which is still being perpetrated by irresponsible hacks and certain actors within the federal government to this day. The story went that Officer Brian Sicknick was beaten over the head with a fire extinguisher during the January 6, 2021 “insurrection” at the Capitol Building, and that as a result of injuries sustained in that assault, Sicknick died on January 7th. That was the narrative that was set when Sicknick died, which later was quietly retracted without any acknowledgement by the New York Times over the course of the next month. Impeachment managers for the second impeachment of Donald Trump blamed the alleged fire extinguisher assault for Sicknick’s death. The media was more than happy to push that narrative that Officer Sicknick’s death was a direct result of the riot of January 6th. Sicknick was given a “lying in honor” in the Capitol Rotunda, and was later buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The truth, however, according to the medical examiner, was that Officer Brian Sicknick had died of natural causes following two strokes, which could not be linked to an assault. There was no video or physical evidence to the fire extinguisher assault story. Officer Sicknick had been pepper sprayed, but the medical examiner found that he was not allergic to the pepper spray, and they could not determine the cause of the strokes.

Sicknick died after suffering strokes, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Francisco Diaz, said in a report. In an interview, Diaz told The Washington Post, which first reported on the determination, that Sicknick suffered two strokes.”

Sicknick, 42, was sprayed with a chemical substance outside the Capitol at around 2:20 p.m. ET on Jan. 6, the report said.”

He did not suffer an allergic reaction to the chemical irritants dispensed by rioters, Diaz told the Post, nor was there evidence of internal or external injuries.”

At approximately 10 p.m., Sicknick collapsed at the Capitol and was transported to a local hospital. He died nearly 24 hours later.”

While the Capitol Police said they accepted the findings of the medical examiner, they still pushed their preferred narrative that Sicknick had “died in the line of duty.” That insistence has led to the continued belief in that very provably wrong narrative, up to the point that TODAY, Joe Biden will be awarding a posthumous “Presidential Citizens Medal” to Officer Brian Sicknick, along with other Capitol Police officers and others involved in the certification of the 2020 election. Sicknick will be receiving his medal for “defending the Capitol on January 6th” and for “los(ing) his life protecting our elected representatives.” Again, the lie continues because the lie serves the preferred narrative. Sicknick can be honored WITHOUT lying about the manner of his death, but did he do anything truly heroic that day? Or is he only well known because he sadly died of natural causes the next day?

JUST IN: @POTUS Biden to award the Presidential Citizens Medal on Friday to the following individuals during an event marking the 2nd anniversary of the #January6thInsurrection pic.twitter.com/qGt9XkJtZ7

— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) January 5, 2023

Well, now the story takes a mercenary turn. The estate of the late Brian Sicknick, along with his “longtime partner” Sandra Garza (the paperwork states that she is acting both individually and as a “personal representative of the estate”) is now suing three people. The two men who were convicted of pepper spraying Sicknick on January 6th, and (drumroll please) Donald Trump.

The lawsuit from Sicknick’s estate was filed the day before the Capitol attack’s two-year anniversary.”

“As Officer Sicknick and hundreds of others—including other police officers, elected officials, and rank-and-file workers at the Capitol—were put in mortal danger, and as the seat of American Democracy was desecrated by the insurgent mob, Defendant Trump watched the events unfold on live television from the safety of the White House,” lawyers for Sicknick’s estate and his partner Sandra Garza wrote in the complaint. “The horrific events of January 6, 2021, including Officer Sicknick’s tragic, wrongful death, were a direct and foreseeable consequence of the Defendants’ unlawful actions.”

Sicknick’s estate also alleges a conspiracy, negligence and assault.”

The lawsuit notes that Trump instructed his supporters in Washington on January 6 to “fight like hell” and “show strength” in his speech before the Capitol riot.”

Julian Khater and George Tanios, the two Capitol rioters named in the suit, pleaded guilty last summer to crimes related to the breach. They are set to be sentenced later this month.”

During the riot, Khater took bear spray from Tanios’ backpack, spraying Sicknick and other officers in their faces and forcing them to recoil as rioters pushed forward toward the Capitol steps.”

Sicknick suffered multiple strokes and died of natural causes the day after the Capitol breach, according to a 2021 report by DC’s chief medical examiner. The examiner, Francisco Diaz, told the Washington Post that “all that transpired” on January 6 “played a role in his condition.”

This is going to be an uphill battle, because the examiner can say that lots of things “played a role,” but no one thing was actually identified as the cause of Sicknick’s strokes. Another problem revolves around the bear spray allegation. The Department of Justice, in the cases against Khater and Tanios, said that it was pepper spray, but the lawsuit keeps saying it was bear spray. Also, homicide charges were never filed because of the ruling that Sicknick’s death was due to “natural causes.”

New lawsuit by the estate of Brian Sicknick filed vs. Trump and vs. George Tanios & Julian Khater accuses Khater 7x in the suit of spraying Sicknick w/ bear spray. DOJ says Tanios & Khater had bear spray, but that Khater sprayed Sicknick w/ pepper spray.https://t.co/C0zp6QUUUx pic.twitter.com/vKhaB3tslA

— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) January 6, 2023

Also, the lawsuit says that Trump is at fault for January 6th. Conveniently, the lawsuit leaves out the part where Donald Trump told the crowd to “peacefully protest” and then continued to emphasize the “peaceful” part on Twitter.

So, what is the point of this civil lawsuit by the estate and Sandra Garza? Here is where speculation begins. Everyone sees how Sandra Garza is referred to as Brian Sicknick’s “longtime partner,” right? Now, from all available accounts, it does seem like Garza got along with Sicknick’s family, which you can see in interviews. This June 28, 2021 interview on MSNBC features both Garza and Sicknick’s mother Gladys. They are clearly grieving their loss. And they clearly want someone to blame.

And because Sicknick never “put a ring on it,” as the kids say, that means Sandra Garza has no rights to Sicknick’s life insurance or pension. From all the news stories that I have checked, Sicknick had no children, so the “estate” that would inherit anything would be his parents, as the next of kin. Grief, anger, and lawyers are a poor combination, and my guess is that Sandra Garza, in her grief and anger and lack of legal status in Brian Sicknick’s life (even if she maintains a good relationship with his family, that probably doesn’t mean that they have given her financial support) is suing the allegedly deep pockets of Donald Trump, with Khater and Tanios thrown in for good measure, for both legal culpability and for an insurance settlement on her own behalf. Notice that she is the “personal representative of the estate” AND is suing on her own behalf as well. Looking over the filing, though, all references to her are solely as the representative of the estate. I imagine that his family is likely allowing her to file the lawsuit, and then seeing if she manages to get anything.

The lawsuit asks for a jury trial, because Garza is likely hoping to play the sympathy card for a jury. But she would also probably be satisfied with a big settlement. I’m guessing that she will get nothing from Khater and Tanios, because they likely have nothing after dealing with federal charges and pleading guilty. Her sights and her lawyers’ sights are all on Donald Trump. Two things can be possible at once – you can believe that Donald Trump behaved poorly after the 2020 election, and you can believe that this is an attempted cash grab by a grieving and angry girlfriend.

Featured image: President Donald Trump, official White House photo taken by Joyce N. Boghosian on January 23, 2020, cropped, public domain