There’s been a bit of confusion over the death of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died soon after the riot at the Capitol on January 6. Several news outlets reported the night of January 7 that a source had confirmed that Sicknick had died after being hit in the head by a fire extinguisher; however, a spokesperson for the Capitol Police issued a statement saying that the reports were not accurate, and no one had died.
Sicknick did die, but the question of whether he died of blunt force trauma after being hit on the head with a fire extinguisher has arisen. Allahpundit over at Twitchy sister site Hot Air posted a piece on Sicknick last week investigating his death. The fire extinguisher narrative seems to have been false; Tucker Carlson had noted that, according to the head of the Capitol Police union, Sicknick had a stroke. CNN updated its reporting: “One leading theory that investigators are considering is that the suspects sprayed an irritant, perhaps bear spray, that caused Sicknick to suffer a fatal reaction.”
Now Andy Ngo is reporting that the New York Times on Sunday appended a correction to its story.
The New York Times retracts claim that a Capitol police officer was killed by Trump supporters with a fire extinguisher. https://t.co/AktmO02vaU
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) February 15, 2021
Noah David Alter reports for The Post-Millennial:
“Law enforcement officials initially said Mr. Sicknick was struck with a fire extinguisher, but weeks later, police sources and investigators were at odds over whether he was hit,” the story now reads. “Medical experts have said he did not die of blunt force trauma, according to one law enforcement official.”
The article had initially stated that Sicknick died “from brain injuries he sustained after Trump loyalists who overtook the complex struck him in the dead with a fire extinguisher.”
The paper used anonymous sources to substantiate their claim.
The article was later cited by a variety of mainstream media outlets without questioning the reporting of the paper. His death was even brought up by Democrats during Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate.
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What everyone seems to agree on is that Sicknick texted his brother after the storming of the Capitol and told him he’d been pepper-sprayed twice but was otherwise “in good shape.”
Usual MO. The damage is already done
— Ian Adams (@golfnutian) February 15, 2021
Unfortunately the damage has been done.
— Kdub (@singlemalt11) February 15, 2021
They pinned all their outrage to that narrative
— Bacicot (@bacicot) February 15, 2021
Sweet, only a month later which no one will see. Thanks for that journalistic integrity.
— William Carter (@metroplex2k7) February 15, 2021
Impeccable timing.
— Joseph Vilarado (@vilarado) February 15, 2021
After it’s become assumed fact
— Bemijaminji (@Bemijaminji) February 15, 2021
Better late than never?
— Frederick R. Lynch (@FrederickRLynch) February 15, 2021
This was done to incite people but nothing can/will be done.
— AP (@A_P3410) February 15, 2021
Glenn Greenwald posted a thread about it Sunday:
Is there any evidence at all that this statement from President Biden is true? Does it matter?https://t.co/jEBu5zKjhX pic.twitter.com/vGUCH0hWSk
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 14, 2021
On the left: @CNN, Feb. 2
On the right, @propublica, Jan. 8 pic.twitter.com/DIZsGOJQlM
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 14, 2021
Amazing: the NYT just quietly appended this so-called "update" – which is really a correction if not a retraction – to its Jan 8 article about Officer Sicknick's death.
This is the article that caused the media to spend a full month spreading the false "fire extinguisher" tale: pic.twitter.com/lA2YZEdsUF
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 14, 2021
The NYT is withdrawing its original story in the slimiest and least informative way — no Editors' Note, no explanation of how it got this wrong — because it knows its readers (Dems) don't care about the truth. They liked the fire extinguisher story:https://t.co/WESk5ZRiLA
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 14, 2021
If you think that's hyperbole about how Dems think – that they desperately want to be fed politically pleasing Fake News – check the rage under any tweet of mine (including these) that points out that original story was 100% false & nobody knows how or why Sicknick actually died. pic.twitter.com/3OIkZPTmQj
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 14, 2021
So what actually happened to the officer?
— Pedro Albuquerque (@73dr0) February 14, 2021
We don’t know.
It's already served it's purpose… no need to hide it anymore.
— B.G. Bankston Sr. (@bringworkback) February 15, 2021
You think the woke will read this and acknowledge it?
— sk8&create (@jacobvart) February 15, 2021
Nope. Twitter detectives already turned in the guy who killed Sicknick with the fire extinguisher — a guy who didn’t do it.
They retracted their story and replaced it with a big gap. A weird dead zone. No “we’re going to circle back on that”; just emptiness.
— Douglas Van Tress (@TressDouglas) February 15, 2021
It’s a tragedy in any circumstance, but with so many people exploiting Sicknick’s death for political reasons, it would be nice to have a definitive answer, and not emptiness.
Every @GOP senator who adopted this lie – I'm looking at you @JohnCornyn – must apologize for cravenly and stupidly believing and repeating a liberal slander that Democrats used to defame the GOP base.
And these GOP hacks played along.
Don't worry John, I saved it. Apologize. https://t.co/Fb1iS8I0HL pic.twitter.com/VAdrNS6omO
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) February 15, 2021
Related:
'This story has f*cked my life up': Let's hear it for the Twitter detectives who ID'd retired Chicago firefighter as rioter involved in Brian Sicknick's murder https://t.co/KiKVjQPPyf
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) January 14, 2021
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