The estate of a D.C. Police officer who died by suicide days after the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol filed a lawsuit Friday against his alleged attacker.
Jeffrey Smith, a 12-year Metropolitan Police Department, died by suicide nine days after the insurrection after suffering a traumatic brain injury that has since been labeled “post-concussion syndrome” by former DC Medical Examiner Jonathan L. Arden.
Smith “suffered great pain and mental anguish and mental distress,” according to the suit that was filed against two alleged attackers, and shot himself after being ordered to return to work, the Washington Post reports. Four officers in total have died by suicide following the insurrection in the months since.
Smith’s lawyer, David P. Weber, eventually got in contact with a group that looks into those at the riot, Deep State Dogs, and they found a video showing Smith at the riot, and used facial recognition to identify one man who “wore a distinctive jacket.” They soon filed in U.S. District Court in Washington,, with an amended complaint on Saturday identifying a second man.
“We felt we had to do something to honor the memory and family of Officer Smith. It’s terrible that the bereaved were left in that situation,” Forrest Rogers of the group told HuffPost. “So we turned to the thing we do best: finding bad guys.”
Dustin Sternbeck, a spokesperson of the D.C. Police said they are “reviewing the information,” after receiving the first name Friday.
