Officer who responded to January 6 attack is third to die by suicide kitv.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kitv.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Serena Liebengood is also calling for structural reforms to the Capitol Police that focus on mental health.
Howard Liebengood, a veteran Capitol Police officer whose father also spent a career working for the institution, was one of three officers who died following the Jan. 6 attack. | AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
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The widow of a Capitol Police officer who took his own life days after a mob stormed Congress and overwhelmed beleaguered officers says the agency s failure to label her husband s death as in the line of duty is a wrong which must be rectified.
In a letter to Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) and circulated to colleagues by Wexton s office Serena Liebengood says her husband Howard s death on Jan. 9 followed four days of nearly round-the-clock work following the attack on the Capitol.
Updated: 13 Feb 2021, 16:12
A COP killed himself after he was struck on the head with a pole during the Capitol riot and “wasn’t the same” again, his wife says.
Capitol Police Officer Jeffrey Smith suffered the blow while he was defending the building during the deadly siege on January 6.
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Rioters broke windows and breached the Capitol building on January 6 in an attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election
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Jeffrey Smith was one of the officers attempting to control Trump supporters as they pushed barricades to storm the US CapitolCredit: AFP or licensors
A rioter tossed the metal pole, which struck Smith’s helmet and face shield, according to a report from the Washington Post.
Two officers who helped fight the Capitol mob died of suicide. Many more are hurting.
Peter Hermann, The Washington Post
Feb. 12, 2021
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1of6Police Officer Jeffrey Smith, 35, died by suicide about one week after he and hundreds of other officers defended the U.S. Capitol from an insurgent mob. His wife, Erin Smith, wants her husband s death to be declared a line-of-duty death.Jack ReznickiShow MoreShow Less
2of6WFrom left, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., pay their respects to Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick, as he lies in honor.Washington Post photo by Demetrius FreemanShow MoreShow Less