By Sarah N. Lynch and Makini Brice
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A West Virginia state lawmaker and a man pictured sitting at U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk are among those facing federal charges stemming from the siege on the U.S. Capitol by President Donald Trump’s supporters, federal prosecutors said on Friday.
In addition, Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen announced the FBI would team up with Washington’s police department to jointly investigate the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died from injuries sustained while defending the U.S. Capitol.
“Just because you’ve left the D.C. region, you can still expect a knock on the door if we find out you were part of the criminal activity at the Capitol,” Steven D’antuono, the FBI Washington Field Office’s assistant director in charge, said at a telephone news briefing.
D’antuono declined to characterize the probe into Sicknick’s death as a homicide investigation during the call, saying the circumstances of the officer’s death were still being reviewed.
“We’re not going to go into it at this point because it’s an active investigation,” he said.
Late on Thursday evening, the Capitol Police confirmed Sicknick had died after sustaining injuries while on duty at the U.S. Capitol during the riot.
After being injured by protesters, the officer returned to his office where he collapsed. He died at a hospital.
The Capitol Police have said the Washington police’s homicide unit is probing the death.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and fellow officers of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick, who succumbed last night to the injuries he suffered defending the U.S. Capitol, against the violent mob who stormed it on January 6th,” Rosen said in a statement.
Ken Kohl, a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, told the news briefing that West Virginia Delegate Derrick Evans now faces criminal charges after he apparently “recorded himself storming the Capitol.”
Kohl said the department is also charging Richard Barnett of Arkansas in connection with his entering Speaker Pelosi’s office where he “left a note and he removed some of the speaker’s mail.”
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Makini Brice; Editing by Lisa Lambert and Jonathan Oatis)
