Washington, DC, United States of America
US federal prosecutors are opening a murder investigation after a Capitol Police officer died Thursday in the aftermath of pro-Trump supporters' invasion of Congress.
According to a report in CNN, representatives for the Washington police department's homicide division is investigating alongside federal law enforcement agencies.
The officer, Brian Sicknick, was the fifth person to die after Trump supporters rioted at the US Capitol on Wednesday. The Republican president had summoned them to Washington for a rally and urged them to fight as lawmakers were meeting to certify his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. The deaths also included some rioters.
Sicknick died on Thursday after being taken to a hospital following his collapse after he returned to his divisional office, the police said.
"The perpetrators of Officer Sicknickâs death must be brought to justice," US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in statement offering condolences to his family. She ordered flags at the Capitol to be lowered to half-staff in his honour.
US Capitol Police said "Sicknick was responding to the riots ... and was injured while physically engaging with protesters."
Sicknick suffered a stroke and was on life support before he died, a CBS News affiliate reported. He was a 12-year veteran of the force.
Trump, who initially praised his supporters, later condemned Wednesday's violence, saying rioters must be held accountable. A woman demonstrator was fatally shot by authorities, and three people died from medical emergencies.
Meanwhile, the US Justice Department announced Friday that it has charged 15 people involved in the assault on Congress, including one man accused of possessing bombs made to act like "homemade napalm."
But Ken Kohl, a federal prosecutor with the Washington US attorney's office, said they did not expect to charge anyone with "incitement" or "insurrection" in Wednesday's violence, amid calls for legal action against Trump, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others for encouraging it.
The department unveiled the cases against 13 people, including Richard Barnett, a Trump supporter who invaded the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Lonnie Coffman of Alabama, who was found carrying two handguns and had 11 Styrofoam-enhanced Molotov cocktails in his truck.
Others whose charges were unsealed include Christopher Albert of Maryland, who allegedly entered the US Capitol with a loaded handgun; and Mark Leffingwell, charged with punching an officer.
Most of the 13 were charged with illegal entry into restricted buildings of Congress, and violent or disorderly conduct.
They were also charged with impeding government functions after forcing the shutdown of a joint meeting of Congress to officially certify that Trump rival Joe Biden had won the November 3 election, which Trump had until Thursday refused to accept.
(with inputs from agencies)