Widow of DC police officer who died by suicide after January 6 riot says Washington officials were reluctant to say he died in the line of duty
The widow of a DC cop who died by suicide after the Capitol riot spoke to CBS about her husband's death.
She said there was reluctance from DC officials to say he died in the line of duty.
Smith said it took over a year for Washington officials to say his death was in the line of duty.
The widow of a Washington DC Metropolitan Police officer who died by suicide days after the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot said district officials were initially reluctant to say he died in the line of duty.
Erin Smith told CBS News in an interview that aired on Wednesday that her late husband, Jeff Smith, died by suicide nine days after the deadly Capitol riot last year.
The District of Columbia Police and Firefighters' Retirement and Relief Board ruled Jeff Smith's suicide a line-of-duty death earlier this month.
The board said in a letter obtained by NBC News that Jeff Smith "sustained a personal injury on January 6, 2021, while performing his duties and that his injury was the sole and direct cause of his death."
Body camera footage seen by CBS News showed Jeff Smith getting assaulted multiple times by rioters. Body camera video footage previously obtained by HuffPost showed Smith getting hit with a flying metal pole.
Erin Smith told CBS News that she believes the city was reluctant to call her husband's suicide a line-of-duty death in the weeks and months after the riot.
"With a suicide comes a stigma and something that the police department doesn't want to face or recognize," she told CBS News.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department told Insider that the department has yet to make a ruling on if Smith's death was in the line of duty, and said medical professionals should be the ones performing any evaluations on the cause.
The city of Washington DC did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Smith told CBS News she lost a good portion of her family's income and health insurance after her husband's death.
Now that his death has been ruled a line-of-duty death, however, the designation allows Smith to claim financial benefits and symbolic honors for her late husband, she told CBS News.
And she's also pressing Congress to pass legislation — introduced by Sens. Tammy Duckworth and John Cornyn — that would provide benefits after officers are killed in the line of duty.
"I'm fighting for my husband but I'm also fighting for everyone else who has gone through this as well," Smith told CBS News.
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