An audience at a Fox News town hall Thursday booed and shouted at Democratic Ohio Senate candidate Tim Ryan after he claimed the Capitol rioters killed a police officer.
Ryan raised the issue of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot during a discussion about the current political climate in the U.S. He then claimed the rioters killed an officer, likely in reference to Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died of natural causes, medical examiner Francisco J. Diaz told The Washington Post in April 2021.
“The guys who stormed the Capitol on January 6, they are the leaders. They’re the leaders. This is what I’m saying,” Ryan said. “They stormed the Capitol on January 6, they beat up 140 police officers, killed one, okay? They killed one.”
The audience immediately began booing him over this claim, and one repeatedly yelled that he is a liar.
“You’re a liar!” a guy yelled from the crowd.
“We all watched the video, we all watched the video,” the candidate continued, speaking over the audience. “I’m happy to have this conversation, I’m not afraid to have this conversation. These are the conversations we need to have in this country. I welcome you guys, lets’s just be respectful. But I’m not afraid to stand here and defend my position.”
Diaz confirmed to The Post that Sicknick died after suffering two strokes the day after the riot. An autopsy found no evidence that he suffered internal or external injuries, which disputed initial reports that he succumbed to injuries caused by being hit in the head with a fire extinguisher or had an allergic reaction to the chemicals sprayed by the rioters.
Four other officers present at the riot — Jeffrey Smith, Kyle DeFreytag, Gunther Hashida and Howard Liebengood — died by suicide after the incident.
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