Assault on Capitol Hill, suicides among agents rise to 4

The number of police officers who committed suicide after being on duty during the raid on Capitol Hill on January 6 has doubled. The District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department confirmed the deaths of a third and fourth officers. Officer Kyle DeFreytag, a 26-year-old native of Pennsylvania, was found dead on July 10. He was serving in the fifth district of the capital Washington, and was tasked with enforcing the curfew set for the night of January 6, after a crowd of pro-Donald Trump demonstrators raided the Congress building in an attempt to block the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory. “I am writing to share the tragic news that 5th Precinct Officer Kyle DeFreytag was found dead last night,” Chief Robert Contee wrote in a mid-July message obtained from Wusa, a local media outlet. “This is extremely painful news for all of us, and for all who knew him well.” Confirmation of DeFreytag’s death came just hours after the Department revealed that Officer Gunther Hashida was found dead in his home last Thursday. “We are in mourning as a Department: our thoughts and prayers go out to Agent Hashida’s family and friends,” Department spokesman Hugh Carew said in a statement. Hashida, a veteran on duty since 2003, was assigned to the emergency response team on the day of the January 6 riots. “Agent Hashida was a hero who risked his life to save the Capitol, the Congressional community and democracy itself,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “All Americans are indebted to him for his great valor and patriotism, on January 6 and throughout his service.” The deaths of Hashida and DeFreytag mark the third and fourth suicides among the agents who responded to the insurgency. of Capitol Hill. Howard Liebengood, who joined the police in 2005, committed suicide three days after the attack, and Officer Jeffrey Smith, with 12 years of service in the Department, took his own life “after the battle,” said said Contee during a closed-door meeting with congressional leaders in January. Officer Brian Sicknick also died of a stroke the day after being beaten with a fire extinguisher and sprayed with pepper spray while attempting to contain the crowd. Hundreds of people have been charged in connection with the Capitol Hill riots, including two men accused of assaulting Sicknick.