Latest news with #wrongfulDeath
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Key takeaways from the acquittal of Karen Read in John O'Keefe's death
DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — Karen Read walked out of court a free woman after more than three years and two trials over the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, who was found on the lawn of a fellow officer's home after a night of heavy drinking. Prosecutors said Read hit O'Keefe with her SUV, leaving him to die in a blizzard, and charged her with second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a deadly collision. Her lawyers successfully defended her, painting a sinister picture of police misconduct and theorizing that O'Keefe was, in fact, killed by colleagues, followed by a vast cover-up. She was convicted of drunken driving, however, for which she will face a year's probation. Though her criminal case is over, Read still faces civil litigation. O'Keefe's family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against her and two bars where the couple drank that night. The two trials were filled with moments that raised reasonable doubt, both in the public's mind and, as illustrated by Wednesday's verdict, the minds of jurors. Here are some key takeaways: Defense lawyers asserted from the beginning that there was no collision between O'Keefe and the 6,000-pound (2,700-kilogram) SUV driven by Read, arguing instead that a crew of tightly knit local and state cops were shielding one of their own and framing her. Lead investigator Michael Proctor, who was fired from the Massachusetts State Police after the first trial for misconduct, knew some people at the party at the house outside of which O'Keefe was found. Proctor sent text messages to friends, family, and co-workers, calling Read a 'whack job' while implying that she was the lone suspect and he wanted her to pay. 'There will be some serious charges brought on the girl ... Zero chance she skates. She's f'd,' he texted just hours into the investigation. A federal agent who was at the party, Brian Higgins, acknowledged at trial destroying his phone and SIM card afterward and disposing of them in two different locations on a military base. In another exchange, Jackson questioned a former officer who originally reported seeing Higgins and the Canton police chief near the SUV in a station garage, a statement she later recanted. 'Have you ever heard of something called the blue wall of silence?' Jackson asked the officer. In closing arguments, he suggested that she changed her story under pressure from the department. The prosecution's evidence included pieces of Read's broken taillight that were recovered at the scene; accounts of the couple's crumbling relationship, fueled by booze; and several witnesses testifying that they heard her repeatedly say, 'I hit him.' But defense lawyers portrayed the case as riddled with errors, missteps, and malfeasance. They emphasized that the taillight fragments were not found immediately and argued that police had time to take them from Read's impounded vehicle and plant them. They also presented video evidence that Read's taillight could have been damaged instead when she hit O'Keefe's car at home later that morning. The shards, which the state claimed cut into O'Keefe's arm, had no blood, tissue, or DNA on them. The only DNA found was on an intact piece of taillight on Read's SUV, and it contained three possible sources — O'Keefe and two unknown males. A hair traced to O'Keefe was found on the rear of the SUV, but the defense questioned how it could have stayed there through the blizzard. Prosecutors also struggled to demonstrate that O'Keefe's injuries were consistent with being struck by a vehicle. They acknowledged not knowing how he was hit, and an accident reconstruction video they produced was panned by the defense since no one knows where he would have been standing. Meanwhile, crash reconstruction experts testified for the defense that O'Keefe's injuries were inconsistent with being hit by a large vehicle. Instead, the defense argued, O'Keefe was beaten up at the party. Neither side produced witnesses who saw him enter into the house, but the defense was able to show a fight was possible. A medical expert testified that wounds on his arm were consistent with an animal bite, supporting the theory that a family dog at the home attacked O'Keefe. A cut over his right eye and injuries to the back of his head, they said, more likely came from being punched and falling backward on a hard surface. It was hard to know, defense attorneys argued, since police never searched the home or treated anyone there as a suspect. Even Read's comments about having 'hit him' were explained away by the defense, which said prosecutors were trying to twist into a confession the dazed words of someone who was grieving and in shock. 'It wasn't a confession. It was confusion,' Jackson said, noting that it is common to be in such a state after an emotional trauma. Any number of people at the home, defense lawyers suggested, while questioning why multiple key law enforcement witnesses were never considered potential suspects or investigated. The defense did not prove that someone else killed O'Keefe, but it was apparently able to create enough reasonable doubt for jurors. Higgins, the federal agent, had sent sexually charged and flirtatious text messages to Read despite knowing she was in a relationship with O'Keefe. On the night in question, Higgins texted her while they were at a bar — 'Umm, well?' he wrote. Moments later he was seen 'play fighting' with Brian Albert, a retired Boston police detective and the owner of the home where the party took place. They defense also pointed to a group text that morning in which one person suggested they all agree that O'Keefe never entered the home and Albert said, 'exactly.' Albert, the defense said, never bothered to exit the house after O'Keefe was found. He later sold it, got rid of the family dog and ditched his cellphone. They also portrayed the family as politically connected, noting that Albert's brother was a police officer and a second brother was on the town's governing body. The defense also questioned Jennifer McCabe, Albert's sister-in-law, who was with Read when they discovered the body, about a misspelled web search: 'hos long to die in cold.' The defense argued that McCabe made it just before 2:30 a.m., but prosecutors said it was after O'Keefe was found at Read's request. McCabe was also asked why she never went in the house after finding the body, suggesting that she already knew they were safe inside. No one from the home came outside as police and paramedics gathered. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
The Independent
2 days ago
- The Independent
Key takeaways from the acquittal of Karen Read in her Boston police officer boyfriend's death
Karen Read walked out of court a free woman after more than three years and two trials over the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, who was found on the lawn of a fellow officer's home after a night of heavy drinking. Prosecutors said Read hit O'Keefe with her SUV, leaving him to die in a blizzard, and charged her with second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene of a deadly collision. Her lawyers successfully defended her, painting a sinister picture of police misconduct and theorizing that O'Keefe was in fact killed by colleagues, followed by a vast cover-up. She was convicted of drunken driving, however, for which she will face a year's probation. Though her criminal case is over, Read still faces civil litigation. O'Keefe's family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against her and two bars where the couple drank that night. The two trials were filled with moments that raised reasonable doubt, both in the public's mind and, as illustrated by Wednesday's verdict, the minds of jurors. Here are some key takeaways: The defense theory: Crooked cops and 'the blue wall of silence' Defense lawyers asserted from the beginning that there was no collision between O'Keefe and the 6,000-pound (2,700-kilogram) SUV driven by Read, arguing instead that a crew of tightly knit local and state cops were shielding one of their own and framing her. Lead investigator Michael Proctor, who was fired from the Massachusetts State Police after the first trial for misconduct, knew some people at the party at the house outside of which O'Keefe was found. Proctor sent text messages to friends, family and co-workers calling Read a 'whack job' while implying that she was the lone suspect and he wanted her to pay. 'There will be some serious charges brought on the girl ... Zero chance she skates. She's f'd,' he texted just hours into the investigation. A federal agent who was at the party, Brian Higgins, acknowledged at trial destroying his phone and SIM card afterward and disposing of them in two different locations on a military base. In another exchange, Jackson questioned a former officer who originally reported seeing Higgins and the Canton police chief near the SUV in a station garage, a statement she later recanted. 'Have you ever heard of something called the blue wall of silence?' Jackson asked the officer. In closing arguments, he suggested that she changed her story under pressure from the department. What the evidence showed the jury The prosecution's evidence included pieces of Read's broken taillight that were recovered at the scene; accounts of the couple's crumbling relationship, fueled by booze; and several witnesses testifying that they heard her repeatedly say, 'I hit him.' But defense lawyers portrayed the case as riddled with errors, missteps and malfeasance. They emphasized that the taillight fragments were not found immediately and argued that police had time to take them from Read's impounded vehicle and plant them. They also presented video evidence that Read's taillight could have been damaged instead when she hit O'Keefe's car at home later that morning. The shards, which the state claimed cut into O'Keefe's arm, had no blood, tissue or DNA on them. The only DNA found was on an intact piece of taillight on Read's SUV, and it contained three possible sources — O'Keefe and two unknown males. A hair traced to O'Keefe was found on the rear of the SUV, but the defense questioned how it could have stayed there through the blizzard. Prosecutors also struggled to demonstrate that O'Keefe's injuries were consistent with being struck by a vehicle. They acknowledged not knowing how he was hit, and an accident reconstruction video they produced was panned by the defense since no one knows where he would have been standing. Meanwhile crash reconstruction experts testified for the defense that O'Keefe's injuries were inconsistent with being hit by a large vehicle. Instead, the defense argued, O'Keefe was beaten up at the party. Neither side produced witnesses who saw him enter into the house, but the defense was able to show a fight was possible. A medical expert testified that wounds on his arm were consistent with an animal bite, supporting the theory that a family dog at the home attacked O'Keefe. A cut over his right eye and injuries to the back of his head, they said, more likely came from being punched and falling backward on a hard surface. It was hard to know, defense attorneys argued, since police never searched the home or treated anyone there as a suspect. Even Read's comments about having 'hit him' were explained away by the defense, which said prosecutors were trying to twist into a confession the dazed words of someone who was grieving and in shock. 'It wasn't a confession. It was confusion,' Jackson said, noting that it is common to be in such a state after an emotional trauma. If Read didn't kill O'Keefe, who did? Any number of people at the home, defense lawyers suggested, while questioning why multiple key law enforcement witnesses were never considered potential suspects or investigated. The defense did not prove that someone else killed O'Keefe, but it was apparently able to create enough reasonable doubt for jurors. Higgins, the federal agent, had sent sexually charged and flirtatious text messages to Read despite knowing she was in a relationship with O'Keefe. On the night in question, Higgins texted her while they were at a bar — 'Umm, well?' he wrote. Moments later he was seen 'play fighting' with Brian Albert, a retired Boston police detective and the owner of the home where the party took place. They defense also pointed to a group text that morning in which one person suggested they all agree that O'Keefe never entered the home and Albert said, 'exactly.' Albert, the defense said, never bothered to exit the house after O'Keefe was found. He later sold it, got rid of the family dog and ditched his cellphone. They also portrayed the family as politically connected, noting that Albert's brother was a police officer and a second brother was on the town's governing body. The defense also questioned Jennifer McCabe, Albert's sister-in-law, who was with Read when they discovered the body, about a misspelled web search: 'hos long to die in cold.' The defense argued that McCabe made it just before 2:30 a.m., but prosecutors said it was after O'Keefe was found at Read's request. McCabe was also asked why she never went in the house after finding the body, suggesting that she already knew they were safe inside. No one from the home came outside as police and paramedics gathered. ___ See an AP Photo Gallery from Read's acquittal here.
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Associated Press
Key takeaways from the acquittal of Karen Read in her Boston police officer boyfriend's death
DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — Karen Read walked out of court a free woman after more than three years and two trials over the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, who was found on the lawn of a fellow officer's home after a night of heavy drinking. Prosecutors said Read hit O'Keefe with her SUV, leaving him to die in a blizzard, and charged her with second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene of a deadly collision. Her lawyers successfully defended her, painting a sinister picture of police misconduct and theorizing that O'Keefe was in fact killed by colleagues, followed by a vast cover-up. She was convicted of drunken driving, however, for which she will face a year's probation. Though her criminal case is over, Read still faces civil litigation. O'Keefe's family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against her and two bars where the couple drank that night. The two trials were filled with moments that raised reasonable doubt, both in the public's mind and, as illustrated by Wednesday's verdict, the minds of jurors. Here are some key takeaways: The defense theory: Crooked cops and 'the blue wall of silence' Defense lawyers asserted from the beginning that there was no collision between O'Keefe and the 6,000-pound (2,700-kilogram) SUV driven by Read, arguing instead that a crew of tightly knit local and state cops were shielding one of their own and framing her. Lead investigator Michael Proctor, who was fired from the Massachusetts State Police after the first trial for misconduct, knew some people at the party at the house outside of which O'Keefe was found. Proctor sent text messages to friends, family and co-workers calling Read a 'whack job' while implying that she was the lone suspect and he wanted her to pay. 'There will be some serious charges brought on the girl ... Zero chance she skates. She's f'd,' he texted just hours into the investigation. A federal agent who was at the party, Brian Higgins, acknowledged at trial destroying his phone and SIM card afterward and disposing of them in two different locations on a military base. In another exchange, Jackson questioned a former officer who originally reported seeing Higgins and the Canton police chief near the SUV in a station garage, a statement she later recanted. 'Have you ever heard of something called the blue wall of silence?' Jackson asked the officer. In closing arguments, he suggested that she changed her story under pressure from the department. What the evidence showed the jury The prosecution's evidence included pieces of Read's broken taillight that were recovered at the scene; accounts of the couple's crumbling relationship, fueled by booze; and several witnesses testifying that they heard her repeatedly say, 'I hit him.' But defense lawyers portrayed the case as riddled with errors, missteps and malfeasance. They emphasized that the taillight fragments were not found immediately and argued that police had time to take them from Read's impounded vehicle and plant them. They also presented video evidence that Read's taillight could have been damaged instead when she hit O'Keefe's car at home later that morning. The shards, which the state claimed cut into O'Keefe's arm, had no blood, tissue or DNA on them. The only DNA found was on an intact piece of taillight on Read's SUV, and it contained three possible sources — O'Keefe and two unknown males. A hair traced to O'Keefe was found on the rear of the SUV, but the defense questioned how it could have stayed there through the blizzard. Prosecutors also struggled to demonstrate that O'Keefe's injuries were consistent with being struck by a vehicle. They acknowledged not knowing how he was hit, and an accident reconstruction video they produced was panned by the defense since no one knows where he would have been standing. Meanwhile crash reconstruction experts testified for the defense that O'Keefe's injuries were inconsistent with being hit by a large vehicle. Instead, the defense argued, O'Keefe was beaten up at the party. Neither side produced witnesses who saw him enter into the house, but the defense was able to show a fight was possible. A medical expert testified that wounds on his arm were consistent with an animal bite, supporting the theory that a family dog at the home attacked O'Keefe. A cut over his right eye and injuries to the back of his head, they said, more likely came from being punched and falling backward on a hard surface. It was hard to know, defense attorneys argued, since police never searched the home or treated anyone there as a suspect. Even Read's comments about having 'hit him' were explained away by the defense, which said prosecutors were trying to twist into a confession the dazed words of someone who was grieving and in shock. 'It wasn't a confession. It was confusion,' Jackson said, noting that it is common to be in such a state after an emotional trauma. If Read didn't kill O'Keefe, who did? Any number of people at the home, defense lawyers suggested, while questioning why multiple key law enforcement witnesses were never considered potential suspects or investigated. The defense did not prove that someone else killed O'Keefe, but it was apparently able to create enough reasonable doubt for jurors. Higgins, the federal agent, had sent sexually charged and flirtatious text messages to Read despite knowing she was in a relationship with O'Keefe. On the night in question, Higgins texted her while they were at a bar — 'Umm, well?' he wrote. Moments later he was seen 'play fighting' with Brian Albert, a retired Boston police detective and the owner of the home where the party took place. They defense also pointed to a group text that morning in which one person suggested they all agree that O'Keefe never entered the home and Albert said, 'exactly.' Albert, the defense said, never bothered to exit the house after O'Keefe was found. He later sold it, got rid of the family dog and ditched his cellphone. They also portrayed the family as politically connected, noting that Albert's brother was a police officer and a second brother was on the town's governing body. The defense also questioned Jennifer McCabe, Albert's sister-in-law, who was with Read when they discovered the body, about a misspelled web search: 'hos long to die in cold.' The defense argued that McCabe made it just before 2:30 a.m., but prosecutors said it was after O'Keefe was found at Read's request. McCabe was also asked why she never went in the house after finding the body, suggesting that she already knew they were safe inside. No one from the home came outside as police and paramedics gathered. ___ See an AP Photo Gallery from Read's acquittal here.
CTV News
5 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Trial opens for lawsuit against pardoned Capitol riot defendant over police officer's suicide
The U.S Capitol is seen on Monday, June 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) WASHINGTON — Nine days after he helped defend the U.S. Capitol from a mob of Trump supporters, Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith shot and killed himself while driving to work. Over four years later, Smith's widow is trying to prove to a jury that one of the thousands of rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is responsible for her husband's suicide. The trial for Erin Smith's wrongful death lawsuit against David Walls-Kaufman started nearly six months after U.S. President Donald Trump torpedoed the largest investigation in FBI history. Trump pardoned, commuted prison sentences or ordered the dismissal of cases for all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in the attack. But his sweeping act of clemency didn't erase Smith's lawsuit against Walls-Kaufman, a 69-year-old chiropractor who pleaded guilty to Capitol riot-related misdemeanor in January 2023. A federal jury in Washington, D.C., began hearing testimony Monday for a civil trial expected to last roughly one week. Erin Smith, the trial's first witness, recalled packing a lunch for her husband and kissing him as he headed off to work on Jan. 15, 2021, for the first time after the riot. 'I told him I loved him, said I would see him when he got home,' she testified. Within hours, police officers knocked on her door and informed her that her husband was dead. She was stunned to learn that he shot himself with his service revolver in his own car. 'It was the most traumatic words I've ever heard,' she recalled. 'You just don't know what to do.' Smith's lawsuit claims Walls-Kaufman scuffled with her 35-year-old husband and struck him with his own police baton inside the Capitol, causing psychological and physical trauma that led to his suicide. Smith had no history of mental health problems before the Jan. 6 riot, but his mood and behavior changed after suffering a concussion, according to his wife and parents. Walls-Kaufman, who lived near the Capitol, denies assaulting Smith. He says any injuries that the officer suffered on Jan. 6 occurred later in the day, when another rioter threw a pole that struck Smith around his head. Walls-Kaufman's attorney, Hughie Hunt, urged jurors to 'separate emotion' and concentrate on the facts of the case. 'This is tragic, but that doesn't place anything at the foot of my client,' Hunt said during the trial's opening statements. Smith's body camera captured video of his scuffle. Richard Link, one of his wife's lawyers, said a frame-by-frame review of the video will show a baton strike move Smith's helmeted head back and forth from the blow. Link said Erin Smith is seeking 'some modicum of justice' for herself and her husband. 'Time stood still' for her after his death, Link added. 'My client is still living with the events of that,' he told jurors. The police department medically evaluated Smith and cleared him to return to full duty before he killed himself. Hunt said there is no evidence that his client intentionally struck Smith. 'The claim rests entirely on ambiguous video footage subject to interpretation and lacks corroborating eyewitness testimony,' Hunt wrote. Erin Smith's attorneys argue that Walls-Kaufman's pardon doesn't nullify the admissions that he made in pleading guilty to a criminal charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. Two years ago, a judge sentenced Walls-Kaufman to 60 days behind bars. The outcome of his criminal case upset Smith's relatives, who questioned why the Justice Department didn't bring felony assault charges against Walls-Kaufman. In 2022, The District of Columbia Police and Firefighters' Retirement and Relief Board determined that Smith was injured during the line-of-duty injury was the 'sole and direct cause of his death,' according to the lawsuit. Erin Smith testified that he was still in pain and was nervous about returning to work on the day that he killed himself. 'He was fearful that something else was going to happen in the city, especially with the inauguration (of President Joe Biden ) coming up,' she said. 'As his wife, I just tried to be as supportive as I could.' On the witness stand, Smith wore the same shoes that she had on at their wedding in 2019. 'To remember the happy times,' she said through tears. 'And to have a piece of him here with me.' Erin Smith also sued another former Jan. 6 defendant, Taylor Taranto, whose Capitol riot charges were dismissed after Trump's Jan. 20 proclamation. She claims Taranto helped Kaufman escape from police. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes temporarily suspended Smith's claims against Taranto, who was jailed for nearly two years before he was convicted of gun and hoax bomb threat charges in May. The presidential pardon didn't cover those charges. More than 100 law-enforcement officers were injured during the riot. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick collapsed and died a day after after engaging with the rioters. A medical examiner later determined he suffered a stroke and died of natural causes. Howard Liebengood, a Capitol police officer who responded to the riot, also died by suicide after the attack. Michael Kunzelman, The Associated Press
Al Arabiya
5 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Trial Opens for Lawsuit Against Pardoned Capitol Riot Defendant Over Police Officer's Suicide
Nine days after he helped defend the US Capitol from a mob of Trump supporters, Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith shot and killed himself while driving to work. Over four years later, Smith's widow is trying to prove to a jury that one of the thousands of rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, is responsible for her husband's suicide. The trial for Erin Smith's wrongful death lawsuit against David Walls-Kaufman started nearly six months after former President Donald Trump effectively ended the largest investigation in FBI history. Trump pardoned, commuted prison sentences, or ordered the dismissal of cases for all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in the attack. But his sweeping act of clemency didn't erase Smith's lawsuit against Walls-Kaufman, a 69-year-old chiropractor who pleaded guilty to Capitol riot–related misdemeanor in January 2023. A federal jury in Washington, D.C., began hearing testimony Monday for a civil trial expected to last roughly one week. Erin Smith, the trial's first witness, recalled packing a lunch for her husband and kissing him as he headed off to work on January 15, 2021, for the first time after the riot. 'I told him I loved him,' she testified. 'I said I would see him when he got home.' Within hours, police officers knocked on her door and informed her that her husband was dead. She was stunned to learn that he shot himself with his service revolver in his own car. 'It was the most traumatic words I've ever heard,' she recalled. 'You just don't know what to do.' Smith's lawsuit claims Walls-Kaufman scuffled with her 35-year-old husband and struck him with his own police baton inside the Capitol, causing psychological and physical trauma that led to his suicide. Smith had no history of mental health problems before the January 6 riot, but his mood and behavior changed after suffering a concussion, according to his wife and parents. Walls-Kaufman, who lived near the Capitol, denies assaulting Smith. He says any injuries that the officer suffered on January 6 occurred later in the day when another rioter threw a pole that struck Smith around his head. Walls-Kaufman's attorney, Hughie Hunt, urged jurors to separate emotion and concentrate on the facts of the case. 'This is tragic, but that doesn't place anything at the foot of my client,' Hunt said during the trial's opening statements. Smith's body camera captured video of his scuffle. Richard Link, one of his wife's lawyers, said a frame-by-frame review of the video will show a baton strike move Smith's helmeted head back and forth from the blow. Link said Erin Smith is seeking some modicum of justice for herself and her husband. 'Time stood still for her after his death,' Link added. 'My client is still living with the events of that,' he told jurors. The police department medically evaluated Smith and cleared him to return to full duty before he killed himself. Hunt said there is no evidence that his client intentionally struck Smith. 'The claim rests entirely on ambiguous video footage subject to interpretation and lacks corroborating eyewitness testimony,' Hunt wrote. Erin Smith's attorneys argue that Walls-Kaufman's pardon doesn't nullify the admissions that he made in pleading guilty to a criminal charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. Two years ago, a judge sentenced Walls-Kaufman to 60 days behind bars. The outcome of his criminal case upset Smith's relatives, who questioned why the Justice Department didn't bring felony assault charges against Walls-Kaufman. In 2022, The District of Columbia Police and Firefighters' Retirement and Relief Board determined that Smith's 'line-of-duty injury was the sole and direct cause of his death,' according to the lawsuit. Erin Smith testified that he was still in pain and was nervous about returning to work on the day that he killed himself. 'He was fearful that something else was going to happen in the city, especially with the inauguration (of President Joe Biden) coming up,' she said. 'As his wife, I just tried to be as supportive as I could.' On the witness stand, Smith wore the same shoes that she had on at their wedding in 2019. 'To remember the happy times,' she said through tears. 'And to have a piece of him here with me.' Erin Smith also sued another former January 6 defendant, Taylor Taranto, whose Capitol riot charges were dismissed after Trump's January 20 proclamation. She claims Taranto helped Kaufman escape from police. US District Judge Ana Reyes temporarily suspended Smith's claims against Taranto, who was jailed for nearly two years before he was convicted of gun and hoax bomb threat charges in May. The presidential pardon didn't cover those charges. More than 100 law-enforcement officers were injured during the riot. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick collapsed and died a day after engaging with the rioters. A medical examiner later determined he suffered a stroke and died of natural causes. Howard Liebengood, a Capitol police officer who responded to the riot, also died by suicide after the attack.
