Tucker Carlson gets slammed for claims on Officer Brian Sicknick's death as Fox News airs January 6 footage
Washington DC - Tucker Carlson of Fox News has begun airing unreleased footage of the January 6 Capitol riots that he says proves the event was not a "deadly insurrection" as claimed. But the family of a police office that died after injuries sustained that day say otherwise.
On Monday, Carlson began broadcasting footage given to him by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in an effort to change the public narrative about what took place, which he says liberal media and Democrats have been lying about.
"They knew he was not murdered by the mob, but they claimed it anyway," Carlson said regarding the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.
Sicknick and several other officers were defending the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol on January 6 as one rioter attacked him with a fire extinguisher, and sprayed him in the face with bear spray.
He died the following day after suffering two strokes, and the medical examiner later ruled that his injuries from the previous day "played a role" in his death.
Carlson showed footage of an officer that he says is Sicknick walking the halls of the building after the attack. It isn't clear that the officer is actually Brian, and the video isn't timestamped to show when it occurred in relation to the day's events. But Carlson goes on to argue that the video demonstrates that Sicknick couldn't have died from a result of the so-called "attack."
"Whatever happened to Brian Sicknick was very obviously not the result of violence he suffered at the entrance to the Capitol," Carlson claims. "This tape overturns the single most powerful and politically useful lie the Democrats have told us about January 6."
US Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger reportedly slammed Carlson afterwards in a letter to the Capitol Police force, writing the news host spread "offensive and misleading conclusions" and a "disturbing accusation" that Sicknick's death was not related to the riot.
"The Department maintains, as anyone with common sense would, that had Officer Sicknick not fought valiantly for hours on the day he was violently assaulted, Officer Sicknick would not have died the next day," he wrote.
Brian Sicknick's family responds to Tucker Carlson's assertions
The family of the deceased officer also released a statement in regard to Fox News' coverage of the footage.
"Every time the pain of that day seems to have ebbed a bit, organizations like Fox rip our wounds wide open again, and we are frankly sick of it," Sicknick's family said.
"Leave us the hell alone and instead of spreading more lies from Supreme leader Trump, why don't you focus on real news?"
The statement says Carlson aims to "pick and choose footage that supports his delusional views," while making Ashley Babbit, a rioter that died after being shot while breaking through the building, into a martyr.
The family strongly believes the medical examiner's conclusion, and that not just the riots played a part in Brian's death, but the events leading up to it.
They even went as far as filing a wrongful death lawsuit against former president Donald Trump, citing lies and misinformation he spread leading up to the insurrection.
Tucker Carlson will continue to air footage throughout the week, as he sets out to prove that the majority of those that breached the Capitol on January 6 were actually peaceful protesters.
Cover photo: Collage: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire