According to the acting chief of the Metropolitan Police (MPD), a second police officer who responded on January 6 to the attack on a violent crowd on January 6 died by suicide.
Acting MPD chief Robert Contee identified the officer as Jeffrey Smith, who he said was injured while trying to oust the gang of former President Trump
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“It was a very sad and tragic situation for us,” Contee told a news conference on Wednesday. “He was injured as a result of the confrontation that took place at the Capitol, and a few days later he, the officer, took his life.”
Contee said Smith was apparently on his way to the George Washington Parkway when he took his own life. U.S. Park Police have been investigating Smith’s death since it took place in his jurisdiction.
“It is clear that we express our condolences to the Smith family, his entire family, for such a tragic loss,” Contee said.
At least two other police officers were also killed in the aftermath of the Capitol attack. Howard Liebengood, a Capitol police officer, also died by suicide after serving on the Capitol on January 6. Another Capitol police officer, Brian Sicknick, died at a hospital one day after the riot after being hit in the head with a fire extinguisher.
Contee said in testimony before the House Compensation Committee on Tuesday, in which he also revealed Smith’s death, that at least 65 MPD officers submitted reports after being injured while responding to the attack. He noted that “many more” officers were injured with scratches, bruises or eyes burning from gunpowder, but did not submit reports to document their injuries.
Capitol Police Department Chairman Gus Papathanasiou said about 140 officers between the U.S. Capitol Police and MPD were injured on Wednesday. He noted that a number of police officers in the Capitol were seriously injured.
“I have officers who did not issue helmets before the attack, who sustained brain injuries. One officer has two cracked ribs and two broken spinal discs. One officer is going to lose his eye and another one has been stabbed with a metal fence,” Papathanasiou said.
The recognition came after Capitol acting police chief Yogananda Pittman testified before the House Compensation Committee, apologizing for the department’s failure to adequately prepare them for the attack, despite knowing days in advance that armed militia groups and white supremacists pose a threat. Pittman is taking on her current role after former Capitol police chief Steven Sund resigned following the January 6 riot.
“We knew there was a strong potential for violence and that Congress was the target,” Pittman said. “The department has prepared to face these challenges, but we have not done enough.”
Papathanasiou called the Capitol police’s failure to prepare for the violence and informed the civil servants “unaware” and “inexcusable”.
“The officers are angry, and I do not blame them. The whole executive team has let us down, and they need to be held accountable. Their lack of lifelong food costs lives, ‘Papathanasiou said.
Pittman admitted in her testimony that many Capitol police officers are suffering from trauma after working on the front lines against the violent crowd and the loss of their colleagues.
Overall, Contee estimated that about 850 MPD officers were at the Capitol on January 6 and another 250 were in the area to support the response.
“While the police officers are out here, you know, they’ve been in a state of just dealing with constant trauma and tragedy since the beginning of the unrest in the early part of the summer,” Contee said. ‘The health and well-being, the mental well-being, of our officers is definitely important and definitely something I’m working on to make sure we can give them the support they need to make it through the things they have to do in the light of all the trauma they have seen and experienced. ‘
Four other people died as a result of the January 6 attack: a member of the mob who was shot by a Capitol police officer while trying to break into the living room and three others who died due to medical emergencies.