Trump is being sued by the partner of the Capitol police officer who died after the attack on January 6 | Donald Trump

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The partner of Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, who died after the Jan. 6 attack on Congress, is suing Donald Trump, saying the former president’s campaign of lies and inflammatory rhetoric about the 2020 presidential election incited the mob, and played a large role in the medical condition that led to the officer’s death.

The suit, filed in Washington DC federal court, names Trump and two other rioters on January 6 who attacked Sicknick, and seeks millions in damages. It was brought by Sicknicks longtime partner, Sandra Garza, a day before the second anniversary of the uprisings.

Garza said Trump’s months of refusing to recognize Joe Bidens fueled the violence that proved fatal to Sicknick. Several participants in the attack have since disclosed that they were acting on what they believed to be Defendant Trumps direct orders in the service of their country, according to the lawsuit.

It added that Trumps speech hours before the riot, urging people to fight like hell, was the culmination of a coordinated effort to override the certification vote.

Trump directly instigated the violence at the Capitol that followed and then watched with approval as the building was overrun, the lawsuit alleges. Trump did all of these things solely in his personal capacity for his personal gain and/or his own partisan purposes.

The other two defendants were rioters Julian Khater and George Tanios, who were among those who clashed with police, including Sicknick, who had been assigned to guard the Capitols Lower West Terrace. Rioters broke barriers, and attacked officers with hands, feet, and other objects, according to the lawsuit.

It says that Khater sprayed bear spray in Sicknicks face, after Tanios brought the spray to him. As Sicknick turned away, incapacitated by the bear spray, Khater continued to spray and continued forward, spraying at least two other officers.

Sicknick, who stayed in the Capitol until late at night, collapsed around 10 p.m. Paramedics rushed him to hospital but he died less than 24 hours later.

The Washington DC medical examiner determined that Sicknick died of natural causes, specifically a series of strokes. But the reviewer emphasized that all of that happened [January 6] has a role in his condition.

The lawsuit argues that Trump knew that chaos and violence could escalate from his stop-gap rhetoric. The horrific events of January 6, 2021, including Officer Sicknicks tragic, wrongful death, were a direct and foreseeable consequence of the defendants’ unlawful actions, the suit says.

Trump knows that his actions before and on January 6, 2021 promoted and encouraged mobs to violently attack the US Capitol.

It added: The death of Officer Sicknicks was a reasonable and foreseeable consequence of the intentional words and actions of the Defendants.

The suit also cited the findings of a House committee January 6, which accused Trump of a multi-party conspiracy to derail the certification of the election. The committee unanimously made four criminal referrals to the US justice department against Trump for his role in the insurgency, the first time Congress has taken such action against a former president.

Trumps attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Both Tanios and Khater were arrested after the riot and pleaded guilty, Tanios to entering and remaining in a restricted building and Khater to assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon.

Beth Gross, Tanioss’ attorney, said in a statement that the recent civil lawsuit naming him as a defendant goes beyond what the facts support and does not interpret Mr. Tanioss’s actual behavior.

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