WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump is ordering the U.S. flag to be flown at half-staff as a sign of respect for two U.S. Capitol Police officers who have died since last Wednesday’s violent protests at the Capitol, as well as all members of law enforcement across the nation.
In a proclamation Sunday, Trump says the show of respect will take place at the White House and all federal buildings through sunset on Wednesday.
The proclamation makes no mention of the rioting at the Capitol.
Trump cites Capitol Police Officers Brian D. Sicknick and Howard Liebengood.
Sicknick joined the U.S. Capitol Police in 2008, serving until his death Thursday after being attacked as rioters seething over Trump’s election loss stormed the Capitol, believing the president’s false claims of a rigged election.
Authorities announced the death of Liebengood on Sunday. It was not clear whether his death was connected to Wednesday’s events. Two people familiar with the matter said the officer’s death was an apparent suicide. They were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and requested anonymity.
There were increasing calls for Trump to order flags to be flown at half-staff on federal facilities after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the same for the Capitol following Sicknick’s death.
Family honors slain 'hero' Capitol Police officer
From his early days growing up in a New Jersey hamlet, Brian Sicknick wanted to be a police officer.
He enlisted in the National Guard six months after graduating high school in 1997, deploying to Saudi Arabia and then Kyrgyzstan.
Joining the Guard was his means to joining law enforcement. He would join the U.S. Capitol Police in 2008, where he served until his death Thursday after being attacked as rioters seething over President Donald
Trump’s election loss stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Sicknick's brother, Ken Sicknick, issued a statement through a family spokeswoman Friday.
“Brian is a hero and that is what we would like people to remember,” a statement from the family reads.
His family said it did not want to make Sicknick’s death a “political issue” as many questions remain about what happened.
The mayor of the town where he grew up says Sicknick's brother told him, “Brian did his job.”
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