Who was Officer Kyle DeFreytag and what was his cause of death?
AN ANGRY mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Captial on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election.
A total of five people, including one police officer, were killed in the violence; however, seven months after the harrowing incident, four Capitol riot cops have died via suicide.
Who was Officer Kyle DeFreytag and what was his cause of death?
On August 2, 26.
DeFreytag was found dead on July 10.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed DeFreytag died by suicide.
DeFreytag was deployed to protect the Capitol after police cleared the building of rioters and helped enforce a curfew, the department said.
According to his obituary, DeFreytag had been an MPD officer for five years.
Who are the other three Capitol Police officers who committed suicide?
The news of DeFreytag's death comes just hours after a spokesperson from MPD confirmed that another officer who was at the riots, Gunther Hashida, 43, .
With DeFreytag and Hashida included, four officers who responded to the attempted have now taken their own lives.
Hashida had joined the department in 2003.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
Twelve-year MPD veteran Jeffrey Smith and US Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood, a 16-year Capitol Police veteran, also responded to the insurrection and later died by suicide.
Three days after the Capitol riot, Smith, 35, killed himself.
On January 15, Liebengood, 51, shot himself in his patrol car while on his way to work.
What did Capitol Police Officers say in their testimony to Congress?
The heartbreaking deaths come just days after when protecting the Capitol from the mob of MAGA fans on January 6.
A number of the officers told lawmakers that they suffered both lingering physical and psychological pain - including PTSD - in the attack's wake.
“What makes the struggle harder and more painful is to know so many of my fellow citizens, including so many of the people I put my life at risk to defend, are downplaying or outright denying what happened,” MPD Officer told a House select committee.
"I feel like I went to hell and back to protect them and the people in this room.
"But too many are now telling me that hell doesn’t exist or hell actually wasn’t that bad. The indifference shown to my colleagues is disgraceful."
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Capitol Police Officer during the riots and that the trauma of the violent event left him in a "low place."
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Telling lawmakers that he is currently in therapy himself, Dunn added: "There is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking professional counseling.
"What we all went through that day was traumatic, and if you are hurting, please take advantage of the counseling services that are available to us."