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Capitol riots: My police officer husband's suicide after assault

Four officers who were trying to protect the Capitol died by suicide, including Jeff Smith, who took his life nine days after suffering a brutal assault.

Former US President Donald Trump orchestrated last year's Capitol riot in an "attempted coup", a congressional inquiry has heard as a hearing opened into the raid. Trump supporters stormed Congress on 6 January 2021 as lawmakers met to certify Joe Biden's election victory.

After almost a year of investigation, the Democratic-led US House of Representatives select committee opened on Thursday evening by showing clips from interviews it conducted with members of Mr Trump's inner circle.

Four people in the crowd that attacked Congress died on 6 January, including one police officer.聽In the days after the assault, four more officers who were trying to protect the Capitol died too, by suicide - including Jeff Smith. His widow Erin is attending the hearings and speaks about her husband's death. She says it was his calling to be a police officer, but after being brutally assaulted during the Capitol riots by protesters, he "withdrew from everything" and took his life nine days later on 15 January, 2021.

Despite there being a stigma in police departments about suicide, which Erin attributes to a reluctance to admit the toll the work can take on its officers, a police retirement boarded has ruled that Jeff's suicide was "a death in the line of duty" which she says has allowed her now to "turn a page".

Photo: Jeff and Erin Smith Credit: Jack Reznicki
Courtesy: Erin Smith

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3 minutes