Prince William praises ‘selfless’ officer killed defending US Capitol

The Duke of Cambridge has praised a police officer who died after being assaulted during the US Capitol riot, in a letter to his grieving partner.

The Duke, who often writes to the families of British emergency services following a tragedy, told the girlfriend of Brian Sicknick he wanted to pay tribute to his “patriotism and selflessness” in upholding American democracy.

The officer, 42, died after trying to fend off a mob who laid siege to the Washington building on January 6 last year.

He had been pepper-sprayed and hit with a fire-extinguisher as a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the building in the hope of blocking the confirmation of Joe Biden’s presidency.

Sandra Garza, his girlfriend, has now revealed the Duke wrote to her in the aftermath, expressing his condolences and praising her partner’s actions.

In the letter, shown to US television channel CNN by Ms Garza, the Duke said: “Please forgive me if I am intruding but I wanted to write and let you know how sorry I am about the death of your partner, Brian.

“Having recently watched documentary footage of the harrowing events that took place at the Capitol building, I wanted to acknowledge the patriotism and selflessness of Brian.

“By all accounts, Brian performed valiantly whilst on duty and despite suffering injuries continued to do his utmost to protect those inside.

“I was terribly saddened to hear he had passed away the following day and I hope you can take some comfort from knowing that it is thanks to law enforcement officers like Brian that the situation did not escalate further and democracy was upheld.”

Signing off with “thoughts and prayers”, the Duke added: “I know that words cannot hope to provide comfort to you at this dreadful time, but I wanted to let you know that you and Brian’s family are very much in my thoughts.”

In an interview, Ms Garza said she had received no message of condolence from Mr Trump.

“Trump does not give two craps about law enforcement or Brian, and yet Prince William took the time to honour me and Brian,” she said.

The Duke regularly meets, telephones and writes to Britain’s first responders, making it a cornerstone of his work during the pandemic to keep in touch with the key workers to thank them for their service.