Officer Sicknick's Longtime Partner Responds to Jan. 6 Committee's Criminal Referrals Against Trump

Sandra Garza, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick’s partner for many years, had begun to think justice in his death the day after rioters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 would never come.

Sicknick was one of dozens of both D.C. and U.S. Capitol police officers injured during the riot, both physically and emotionally. 

But on Monday, the House committee investigating Jan. 6 said there's "more than sufficient evidence" for criminal referrals against former President Donald Trump and others for their role in trying to overturn the 2020 election results.

Garza, however, said she still feels "a little cynical," because her push for justice in Sicknick’s death has been exhausting.

She often feels worn down by the efforts of powerful people - people who hold the reins of government and accountability in their hands - to minimize, deny or even glorify Jan. 6. 

Garza, for instance, has made no secret of the fact that both she and Sicknick voted for Trump. 

But the horror of the riot and Sicknick’s death the next day from a stroke after battling people trying to take over the institution he swore to protect left her with a decidedly changed opinion of the former president. 

“He has the arrogance to come out and say that he’s gonna run for president again, after everything that’s happened, everything that he is responsible for. It’s just so disheartening, it’s sickening,” Garza said.  

She said her enduring love and respect for Sicknick keeps her pushing to hold Trump and others accountable for his death, even though it often seems like that effort is going nowhere.

“I’m not going to say I’m not completely grateful for the committee and everything that they’ve done, because I know this is going to put a fire under [U.S. Attorney General] Merrick Garland,” she said.

Two men, 33-year-old Julian Khater and 40-year-old George Tanios, have pleaded guilty to the assault on Sicknick at the Capitol on Jan. 6.