US Capitol Police officer on life support after being hit by fire extinguisher during MAGA riot

A US Capitol Police officer injured on Wednesday when Trump supporters rioted at the Capitol is reportedly on life support after being hit in the head with a fire extinguisher.

A rioter assaulted the officer with the extinguisher, a source told NewsNation on Thursday.

Read our US Politics live blog for the latest news as the US Capitol building is put into lockdown


Earlier on Thursday, CNN mistakenly reported based on three sources that the officer had already died.

However, Capitol Police union chairman Gus Papathanasiou told a WUSA 9 reporter that the cop was on life support.

More than 50 Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department officers were injured, according to authorities, as a result of protests aimed at preventing Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden's win.

The four people who have died have been identified are Ashli Babbitt, 35, Roseanne Boyland, 34, Kevin Greeson, 55, and Benjamin Phillips, 50.

Trump supporters pushed through barriers around the perimeter of the Capitol around 1pm ET on Wednesday, and skirmishes ensued with officers in riot gear.

Some MAGA fans called the officers "traitors" for standing their posts.

About an hour-and-a-half later, the protesters had entered the Capitol building, according to police.

Police and protesters engaged in an armed standoff at the entrance of the House chamber around 3pm, with cops drawing their guns at an individual who was trying to break through.


US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund is resigning after lawmakers including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed frustration over the force's lack of preparedness given President Donald Trump had been promoting a rally to block Biden's victory.

Sund's resignation is effective Jan. 16, four days before Biden's inauguration, a Capitol Police official said.

In a statement on Thursday morning, Sund said that Capitol and other law enforcement officers were "actively attacked" with weapons including metal pipes.

"They were determined to enter into the Capitol Building by causing great damage," Sund stated.


Capitol Police responded to reports of pipe bombs and a suspicious vehicle on the southeast corner of the Capitol and officers "determined that both devices were, in fact, hazardous and could cause great harm to public safety," Sund said.

Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, was shot in the chest by a Capitol Police officer after she climbed into the building through a window.

The officer who fired the shot has been placed on administrative leave as Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department conduct a joint investigation.


Boyland's family in Georgia said she was trampled in the Rotunda, after police said she might have been crushed in the mob.

Greeson, who had high blood pressure, had a heart attack and fell to the sidewalk.

Phillips, a computer programmer who started the website Trumparoo for President Donald Trump's fans to talk, died of a stroke.

More to follow…

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