The Two Capitol Police Officers That Committed Suicide After The 1/6/21 Insurrection.....

[global1]

is anybody else suspicious about their suicides?

Have these deaths been investigated? Did these officers know each other? Could the insurrection really have pushed these two men to commit suicide?

Just asking - because I've always thought these suicides didn't make sense to me.

I hope if this 1/6th Commission ever gets off the ground - either as a bipartisan exercise or the Dems go it alone - that these suicides will be investigated.

[mahina]

1. I was wondering about this as well

Perhaps they were just horrified at how vile and hateful the rioters were. Maybe they were injured, maybe their hearts were just broken.

I wonder but I don’t want to know because knowing would mean that their identity was released m. The families don’t deserve that, not any of it.

[liberalla]

32. ** Please ** It's important to read about the experience of Officer Jeffrey Smith ***

soothsayer posted this on Feb. 12...

This is what the Capitol riot did to police officer Jeffrey Smith: He "seemed in constant pain, unable... "

It's sad and tragic and maddening what happened to this man, as shared by his wife. And IMHO, he was also miserably failed in his medical treatment and aftercare.

__________________


I'm replying to you so this info is near the top of the thread and more people will see it.

[mahina]

35. Thank you. I will.

[bottomofthehill]

37. Thank you, so important to nip this bullshit in the Bud

To be attacked by your own countrymen/women. Fight to save democracy, and then after sadly taking your own life have someone with no understanding of the situation and who did little research post something like this truly cheapens their service.

[Zeitghost]

2. LEO's have a higher rate of suicide

It could simply be a coincidence.

[Bucky]

5. They were both in the thick of an attack they didn't know was coming. There's no way on earth...

...that the trauma of a violent mob attack that lasted several hours wasn't a contributing factor to their suicides.

[Champp]

15. And the godpissing trumplicans blocked support for them

to ensure that murderous trumplican-republiQon thugs could more freely attack them, America, and American democracy.

[bottomofthehill]

3. Let's try to stick with Facts and not turn into a Qanon type site trafficking in bullshit.

First, one Capitol Police Officer committed Suicide, it was a tragedy, his family is still grieving, as are his coworkers who fought to save democracy on 1/6. He was a line officer in an office building and was not in any type of decision making position.

The other officer was with Metropolitan Police he responded to the Capitol to help restore order. He was hit in the head, concussed and committed suicide on his first day back to work from his concussion.

To attack these officers is utter bullshit. Not only that but your premise if factually incorrect.

[Bucky]

6. I don't think the OP is *attacking* these men, per se. The question's insensitive, but not malicious

I've lost friends to suicide, so I understand the complexity and secretive nature of the depression, conditions, and trauma that cause it. But the OP sounds more like someone who doesn't know how disease works as deadly and invisible as a poison to attack its victims.

[bottomofthehill]

25. is anybody else suspicious about their suicides? is the question asked......

Looks an awful lot like "Do you still beat your wife" when that question is asked, it creates the impression that they did something that led them to take their own life. There is no evidence to that and in the case of the Metropolitan officer who had no idea he would be called to defend the Capitol that day, it is absurd.

[PatrickforB]

22. While I am not going to rush into attributing a motive to the OP that might not be there,

I will say that my 'take' on the horrible tragedy of these two suicides is that the treasonous insurrection of January 6 put up a massive, unavoidable, stark, and terrible wall of cognitive dissonance. We know that if someone's underlying beliefs about 'the way things are' is attacked, their body will literally have a fight or flight reaction.

Think about what happened to this entire group of officers. Up until January 6, they were, essentially, a police presence in the worldwide epicenter of democracy. Oh, I know...if you've read your Chomsky and Zinn, you won't believe we are 'exceptional' just because we exist, but many in this land DO have such beliefs.

Now, police officers tend a bit to conservatism, and look what happened that awful day. An armed and violent mob of people they may have considered allies, and with whom they might have sympathized, stormed the Capitol, and reinforcements were withheld for hours. Hours. And, in fact, these officers were not even issued riot gear.

They spent that day being overrun, beaten, smashed in doors, dragged, bear sprayed, and even killed. They were literally helpless for hours in the face of this horror, this treason, this violence, and those they were charged with protecting were endangered, the secular Temple of Democracy, which really is what the Capitol is meant to be was defaced.

Treasonous scum urinated on the floors, smeared feces on walls, stole things, damaged things, and generally terrorized everyone, including the Capitol Police Force.

Then, when the smoke cleared, reinforcements arrived, can you imagine how these officers felt, looking upon the damage? Knowing that what you felt was sacred was no more - realizing that yes, a coup could actually happen here, and that people you trusted, TRUSTED, betrayed you in a fundamental, visceral way - leaving you at the mercy of this disgusting mob of treasonous scum without any help, for POLITICAL reasons.

January 6 represented a stripping away of every norm, every expectation, every confidence that, as imperfect as this nation is, its democratic process will hold. Because it didn't hold. Forty years of Republican/corporate sponsored lies, hatred, and divisive wedges finally came home to roost.

Now, the day after, nothing was the same. Nothing would ever be the same.

Me, I think that's what did it. These two people simply could not deal with the new Trumpian reality, and with the fact that the Republican party, the people they thought had their back and were their friends, betrayed them in the most base way possible. They left them to be overrun, to die. And for what? Donald Trump? They may even have voted for the guy.

How can we be suprised that there were two suicides in the aftermath. In fact, I am surprised there were not more.

May these public servants rest in peace, and be enfolded with eternal love and light, and may their families be comforted.

And may we clean house and rid our republic of the treasonous scum that did this to all of us. And I'm not just talking about the bearded, toothless, Trump-supporting morons, either. I'm talking about Moscow Mitch. Kevin McCarthy. Lyin' Flyin' Ted Cruz, Little Marco, and Josh 'Traitor' Hawley. Not to mention Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene. They are scum and we need to be rid of them.

[StarfishSaver]

23. Thank you

[ShazamIam]

4. I have wondered as well, maybe the families will speak out some time in the future. I don't

want to share some of my speculations, sometimes we just have to wait for the answers.

[bottomofthehill]

26. well worth the read about one of the officers

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/police-officer-suicides-capitol-riot/2021/02/11/94804ee2-665c-11eb-886d-5264d4ceb46d_story.html

[ShazamIam]

30. Thank you, that is helpful. I wonder about that order to return to work.

[bottomofthehill]

31. With the Inauguration, the threats against Members at an all time high, and....

A sprawling campus to protect including a dozen office buildings plus the Capitol itself and miles of roadway coupled with the still un-captured pipe bomber, insurrectionists still in the city and armed, other nuts coming to reinforce them it was unfortunately very necessary. Plus there were about 75 men and women on the department who were injured, some out days others weeks some still out some not coming back. Many officers are still working 5 twelve hour shifts and one 8 hour shift a week. Plus, the entire Capitol was a crime scene.

[Bucky]

7. It makes perfect sense.

They didn't just experience an ordinary traumatic event. This attack went on for many hours. They were harassed and bullied during the insurrection; many faced taunting and harassment afterwards too. They might have brought doubts about how effectively they did their jobs that day, or felt betrayed by their commanders and government by not being prepared or getting back-up. Don't forget that many of the Capitol officers were Trump voters--imagine how they'd feel to have their lives threatened by the leader they trusted; how horribly their world view would be shattered.

And as humans, they brought their own doubts and insecurities to the job every day. Some people in that situation will turn their anger outward, but others will naturally turn it inward and blame themselves. It's not like they had counselors standing by in the aftermath. They must've felt like the whole country turned on them, these people who took an inherently patriotic job. They made careers out of protecting the nation's Capitol and capital. And then their leaders stabbed them in the back.

I can understand their despair.

[spooky3]

20. Great post. Nt

[womanofthehills]

8. Howard Liebengood's father was the Senate Sargant at Arms in the 1980's & friend of Manafort &Stone

I think his law firm merged with Stones and Manaforts or something like that.

Venture Capital
@kelly2277
FireWHOAFireHoward Liebengood, (the Capitol police officer that just died from suicide) father was associated with Paul Manafort. Manafort’s company, Event Strategies, was involved with the planning of the Trump Rally at the Capitol... stay w me...

Yashar Ali Elephant
@yashar
· Jan 10
Liebengood’s father, also Howard Liebengood, died in 2005.

He was the Senate Sargeant at Arms in the early 1980s and then became a powerful lobbyist and an associate of Paul Manafort’s. twitter.com/yashar/status/…

NOW - this is WEIRD but it's coming from Roger Stone - a psychopath. You can find quotes online taken from Roger Stone's book and Stone has talked about this in interviews. Roger Stone is claiming that Howard Liebengood's father told him details of JFK assassination. We all know Stone is not playing with a full deck but this is what Stone claims.

Venture Capital
Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood’s father told ROGER STONE details about the JFK assassination and plans to assassinate Nixon... What did Liebengood Jr know ?

[Ellipsis]

12. Yeah, the Roger Stone connection does sound off alarms doesn't.

[stillcool]

16. I find that history fascinating...

forgot about the Manafort thing...

Gold and Liebengood was a Washington DC lobbyfirm founded by two Senate aides, Howard S Liebengood and Martin B Gold. It was later purchased by Burson Marsteller and at a still later date it was a merged into Paul Manafort's Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly to form BKSH & Associates

Howard Liebengood had been head of Government lobbying for the Tobacco Institute, and they maintained the account when the company was established. They also worked for Philip Morris - both before the acquisition by Burson Marsteller, and after.

A 1993 internal budget review document for the Philip Morris group of companies had Gold & Liebengold with a preliminary budget allocation of $406,000.

Describing the project, the document states, "Howard Liebengold is one of the best Republican lobbyists in town. His partner, Marty Gold, is an expert parliamentarian. He is subcontracting and "FOB", Paul Berry, at our request. The firm has good depth in the health care area."

https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Gold_%26_Liebengood

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/liebengood-capitol-police-death/2021/01/10/3a495b84-5357-11eb-a08b-f1381ef3d207_story.html
U.S. Capitol Police officer Howard Liebengood — the son and namesake of a former Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, lobbyist and Hill staffer — took his own life on Saturday, days after a mob breached the Capitol, a spokesman for his family said Monday.
Liebengood, who grew up in Fairfax County and was a race car driver before joining the police force, was assigned to the Senate Division. A former co-worker said he often worked at the Delaware entrance of the Russell Senate Office Building — his favorite posting.
==================
Liebengood Sr. left his post as sergeant at arms to become a lobbyist, eventually starting his own firm with another former Hill staffer. In 2001, he returned to Capitol Hill as chief of staff to his longtime friend, Sen. Fred D. Thompson (R-Tenn.), and later to then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.). He died of a heart attack on Jan. 13, 2005, two weeks shy of his planned retirement.

======================
A classmate and wrestling teammate of the younger Liebengood, Stu Wilkinson, said his friend’s relationship with Washington’s political elite dates back to their childhood — though he didn’t brag about it.

He recalled a school trip to the White House in the 1980s, when Secret Service officers took Liebengood aside to have him speak with then-Senate Majority Leader Howard Henry Baker Jr. (R-Tenn.).
“Here comes Senator Baker shaking Howie’s hand,” Wilkinson said. “[Liebengood] was so humble. .?.?. None of us had any clue how they knew each other.”

Howard Scholer Liebengood (December 29, 1942 – January 13, 2005) was an American lawyer and lobbyist. A protégé of Senator Howard Baker, he served as Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate from 1981 to 1983 before leaving to become a lobbyist for the Tobacco Institute.

[Crunchy Frog]

9. I read about one of them at the time.

He apparently had a significant head injury, was complaining about being in severe pain, showed signs of PTSD, and may have had altered mental processes due to the head injury.

He was ordered back to work within a couple days and apparently decided that he couldn't handle it and that blowing his brains out was the best way to deal with the situation.

I feel that his medical and psychological needs were criminally neglected, but I don't see anything suspicious.

I haven't read anything about the other one who committed suicide.

[womanofthehills]

10. What is unsettling is that the father of Officer Liebengood worked with Manafort & Stone - lawyers

and lobbyists at the same law firm. I always thought Roger Stone was just some big baffoon with a Nixon tatoo, but I think he has been more evil than we even know. He was definitely involved in Jan 6 and being a friend of Manafort's I can only imagine those two depraved minds working together. That the dead officer's father worked with these guys makes you wonder if the officer might also have had a connection to Stone & Manafort. Not saying he did, but he might have known Manafort & Stone since he was a kid.

[RegularJam]

14. This is called a wild conspiracy theory. nt

[bottomofthehill]

27. yes, this is the metropolitan police officer

he had no idea that he would end up at the capitol, he was insured trying to restore order and allow the count of electoral votes. yet his death is questioned. Bullshit! He is a hero who took his own life, it is a tragedy. He came when called to protect democracy.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

11. Yes, why did they not get to lie in state as heroes too?

[StarfishSaver]

29. Maybe their families didn't want it.

If they had, I'm sure they would have raised the issue with Capitol Police and the sergeant-at-arms. They don't need us to advocate for them on a message board

I think we should just leave his grieving family in peace

[RegularJam]

13. Their suicides didn't raise any red flags with me.

What have their families said?

Many Capitol Officers already come to the job with some form of trauma. Then this even was insane. All types of other factors as well.

[Botany]

17. Questions should be asked but privately and ...

... with great care too.

This is not the place for it.

[Iggo]

19. .

[stopdiggin]

21. concur. unless it has direct bearing

really pertinent to the how and why of the event (attack) itself .... I think it is a private matter to be dealt with by the families and the force.

[StarfishSaver]

24. Thank you

This is cruel and unnecessary speculation.

[bottomofthehill]

28. you hit the nail on the head

By the way, does this look like a man who was part of a white nationalist insurrection?

In a letter sent to Virginia Representative Jennifer Wexton and obtained by CBS News, Serena Liebengood wrote that her husband was ordered to remain on duty “practically around the clock” for three days following the insurrection and “was severely sleep deprived” before his death on January 9.

“The Liebengood family wants Howie’s death to not have been in vain,” she wrote. She called on UCSP to designate her husband’s death as “in the line of duty,” and wrote “the UCSP must be held accountable for its actions and structural reforms instituted” to address the mental health of its officers.

The link is to a picture of the happy couple on their wedding day.

https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/us-capitol-police-deal-with-second-death-of-one-of-their-own-in-four-days-heres-what-we-know/

[liberalla]

34. Link to info on the other Officer is in post #32...

[liberalla]

33. Info on one of the suicides in post #32

Read it and weep. I know I did...

[bottomofthehill]

36. Thank you. I was trying to link to the post article

But this is the information I was looking for. When he left his house that day he had no idea he would be called on to protect our democracy but when called he came running. He sought to restore order and allow our system to work. Was in an hours long battle and was seriously insured. Took too few days off to heal, had inadequate medical support and eventually took his own life on his way back to work for the first time since the insurrection. All of that yet some here cast bullshit accusations and conspiracy theories on a hero. I cry bullshit. They both deserve better.