Trump supporters clash with security forces and police as they attempt to storm Washington D.C's Capitol on January 6, 2021. Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images
The widow of a police officer who committed suicide in January's Capitol Riot is suing her husband's attacker.
Lawyers for Erin Smith claim that Erin Smith's husband died from injuries sustained during an attack during the riot.
Online detectives used video starting January 6 to identify the plaintiff.
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Jeffrey Smith, a DC Police Officer, committed suicide nine days following the January 6th riot at US Capitol. The Smith estate filed a lawsuit against the man it claims assaulted her husband during the violence.
Smith's widow Erin filed the lawsuit. It alleges that Smith, 35, sustained a traumatic brain injury during the altercation which resulted in Smith's suicide nine days later. It also contains Jonathan L. Arden's opinion, which argued Smith's death was due to "post-concussion syndrome."
According to the lawsuit, Smith suffered "great pain and mental anguish" and was "otherwise damaged."
According to the Washington Post, Smith killed himself driving on the George Washington Memorial Parkway one day after being told to return to work. According to the report, Smith was an officer in DC’s Metropolitan Police Department for 12 year.
In the weeks and months that followed the attack, four police officers who had responded to the January 6 riot committed suicide.
According to HuffPost Smith's lawyer David P. Weber is also a Perdue School of Business forensic professor in Maryland. He read a HuffPost story about the "Sedition Hunters," which are private citizens who work to uncover the identities of those who took part in the January 6th riot that was fuelled by false claims of election fraud by ex-President Donald Trump.
Weber eventually made contact with Deep State Dogs who had previously identified several individuals in the riot according to the report.
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According to HuffPost, it took the group just over one month to find the evidence that they were looking for. HuffPost reported that they found a video of Smith fighting with rioters at the eastern entrance of the House, outside the Speaker's Lobby.
"We felt that we had to do something in honor of the family and memory of Officer Smith. HuffPost was told by Forrest Rogers, a member of the group that it was terrible that the bereaved were left there. "So, we did what we love: we found bad guys.
According to the report, they used facial recognition software for one man to identify Smith. Smith appeared to be engaging in face-to-face before he fell. The man was identified as David Walls-Kaufman. He was seen wearing the same padded motorcycle jacket in a YouTube video.
Kaufman received a "cane" or crowbar from a co-defendant, according to the suit. This was Taylor F. Taranto, Washington state.
According to the lawsuit, "Kaufman violently swung a cane and struck Officer Smith in his face/head."
Kaufman has not been charged with any criminal offenses and did not respond to Insider’s request for comment. According to HuffPost, Kaufman is located in Washington and operates a chiropractic clinic just blocks from the US Capitol.
In January, he told a NBC 6 Miami reporter that he was at the Capitol during the riot.
Insider was told by a spokesperson for MPD that they were aware of the situation.
Insider was told by a spokesperson for the MPD that they are aware of the information available. "The FBI is the primary investigator in the case of the January 6th incidents. We will continue to support their investigations."
Insider was told by a spokesperson for the FBI that they had no comment.
Smith's estate is currently suing Kaufman and Taranto, claiming that Kaufman was negligent in assault and battery and wrongful deaths. Taranto is also being sued for aiding or assisting. According to the lawsuit, the estate seeks a $2 million judgment as well as punitive damages of $5 million.
Insider has the original article.
