Official responding to U.S. Capitol riots becomes third official to commit suicide-Nationwide

The District of Columbia Metropolitan Police said on Monday that the third police officer who responded to the riots in the U.S. Capitol on January 6 died by suicide last week.

A police spokesperson said in a statement that Metropolitan Police Officer Gunther Hashida was found dead at home on Thursday.

Hashida joined the emergency response team in the Special Operations Department in May 2003.

This is the third known police suicide in which supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump responded to the Capitol attack.

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Metropolitan Police Jeffrey Smith and Capitol Police Howard Libengood also responded to the Congressional riots and later committed suicide.

So far, more than 500 people have been charged with crimes triggered by the January 6 riots, despite Trump’s allies trying to downplay the incident.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Stephen Coates)