Following a prolonged struggle, the widow of a Washington, D.C., police officer who died by suicide after being assaulted throughout the 2021 Capitol revolt has been discovered eligible to obtain federal advantages after his dying was dominated a line-of-duty dying.
Erin Smith, whose husband Jeffrey Smith died days after struggling a concussion and traumatic mind damage within the assault, was knowledgeable Thursday of the long-awaited choice by the Division of Justice’s Public Security Officers’ Profit Workplace, her legal professional mentioned Friday.
The choice got here precisely a 12 months after President Joe Biden signed the Public Security Officer Assist Act, which extends line-of-duty advantages to officers who’re believed to have contributed to or prompted their very own damage or suicide after experiencing a traumatic occasion. Smith utilized for the advantages program shortly after the brand new regulation went into impact.
Smith had petitioned for increasing the advantages and efficiently satisfied the D.C. Police and Firefighters’ Retirement and Aid Board early final 12 months that her husband’s dying was actually a line-of-duty dying.
Jeffrey Smith was struck a number of instances with a police baton and a metallic pole by rioters whereas clearing a barricaded space contained in the U.S. Capitol. The Metropolitan Police Division officer was ordered again to work 9 days later and fatally shot himself whereas driving to work, the household’s legal professional mentioned.
“I may have given up. However I didn’t need any future widow, or widower, to ever undergo what I went via within the aftermath of Jeffrey’s dying,” Erin Smith mentioned in an announcement launched by her legal professional. “I’m happy that on the one-year anniversary of the regulation’s passage, Jeffrey’s dying has lastly been dominated to be line of obligation underneath federal regulation.”
Her legal professional, David Weber, mentioned the final step sought is for Smith to be buried at Arlington Nationwide Cemetery with the official honor guard that he deserves.
“In the present day, we all know he died a hero, within the line of obligation. However on the time, Mrs. Smith watched as different officers lay in state, whereas she mourned very a lot alone, with no assist or acknowledgment from the nation or metropolis,” mentioned Weber, who demanded that Smith’s identify be additionally added to the Nationwide Regulation Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington.
“It’s time to take away the stigma suffered by Mrs. Smith and all the longer term widows and widowers who’ve misplaced their family members to their regulation enforcement duties. There can not be any severe debate that Police Officer Jeffrey Smith died within the line of obligation,” he mentioned.