Mom Claims Brain Trauma Caused Her Son to Ram US Capitol Barricade and Shoot Himself

Delaware resident Richard Aaron York III had head injuries and concussions as a football player, which may have caused brain trauma that drove him to ram his car towards the U.S. Capitol barricades while firing a gun and then shooting himself, according to his mother Tamara Cunningham.

Speaking with The Guardian, Cunningham said that, prior to the incident on Sunday, Aug. 14, her 29-year-old son had something "going on for a while" and he was "progressively getting worse." The mother said that York's playing days left him with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), or brain trauma that led to his aggressive behavior.

While York's actions did not hurt anyone else but himself, the police are still investigating what led York to crash the barricade. Due to the timing of the crash, there were allegations that York was a supporter of former Pres. Donald Trump and objected to the FBI raid on his mansion last Aug. 8.

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"My son was a good person"

Cunningham, however, had no idea her son was hurting and wasn't in the right state of mind. She was aware that York was taking medications but could not detail the specifics of his treatments.

She described her son as a hard worker who took care of his family. In Delaware, York was apparently caring for a grandmother who lives in his house. Cunningham also said that when her son was "functioning," he was a "wonderful person."

The mother said that her son was "a good person" who loved her very much, per NBC News. As far as she knows, her son is a Democrat and isn't attuned to political issues, thus negating any speculations that politics had something to do with his death.

Police records revealed that York had a criminal record in Pennsylvania. In 2011, he pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance. He also pleaded guilty to assaulting his then-girlfriend, who was pregnant at that time.

Cunningham recalled those incidents and said that her son was just a kid. However, in January 2020, York was also charged with assault following an altercation with a co-worker. He also pleaded guilty and served 213 days in confinement. He was out on probation during the incident at Capitol.

Lawyer Steven Mills, who represented York in the case, said he never expected his client would die so violently. Like Cunningham, Mills described York as a nice guy who had a nice family.

Authorities to conduct postmortem brain autopsy

Investigators said that a postmortem brain autopsy will be conducted on York to confirm the CTE diagnosis. His mother asked a private doctor and the local coroner to do the procedure.

Per the American Psychiatric Association, CTE has been linked to serious conditions like aggression, depression and suicidal behavior. CTE has no cure but there are medications for managing the behavioral symptoms as well as memory and cognition problems.

Meanwhile, the Capitol police also said that Congress was not in session at the time of York's crash, thus there were no indicators that this was an act of rebellion against the government.  

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