2 Capitol Police officers died by suicide days after the Jan. 6 assault on Congress
13 February 2021
The families of two Capitol Police officers who died by suicide within days after defending Congress from a pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6 want their deaths recognized as “in the line of duty,” according to The Washington Post.
The big picture: The assault on the Capitol claimed five lives including Brian Sicknick, who died from injuries he sustained during the siege. Capitol Police officers Jeffrey Smith, 35, and Howard Liebengood, 51, who had been on duty during the attack, took own their lives days later.
- Smith was found dead in his vehicle, which had rolled over and down an embankment along the George Washington Memorial Parkway. He died before the car wreck from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
- Liebengood, 51, took his life three days after the riot, according to the Post.
- They were buried in private ceremonies.
Officer Sicknick laid in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda at the beginning of February.
- The ceremony for him included remarks from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)
What they're saying: In an interview with the Post, acting D.C. police chief Robert Contee did not say if he would support designating Smith's death as in the line of duty.
- Contee described care given to officers, including Smith, after the riot as “adequate” but added that the department "can always do better.”
By the numbers: 65 D.C. Police officers who responded to the riot and 70 Capitol Police officers were injured in hand-to-hand combat that lasted for hours, according to the Post.
- Multiple people, including members of far-right extremist groups, have been arrested over their alleged involvement in the Capitol siege.
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact theNational Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (En Español: 1-888-628-9454; Deaf and Hard of Hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.