WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) honored D.C. Metropolitan Police Officers Gunther Hashida and Kyle DeFreytag—both officers who responded to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6—who recently died by suicide.
With their deaths, four police officers who responded to the January 6 insurrection have now died by suicide. Durbin called on his colleagues to do everything possible to support the officers who responded to the Capitol on January 6.
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“As we all witnessed last week, many of the Capitol and Metropolitan Police Officers who defended us and the Capitol on January 6 are still grappling with the physical and emotional trauma of the day. We have to do everything we can to support them, from providing access to mental and emotional support to ensuring that everyone who bears responsibility for the January 6 insurrection is held accountable,” said Durbin. “The supplemental funding package the Senate passed this last week was a good starting point. To deny what January 6 was about is literally adding insult to injury for those officers—brave officers—who defended us. They deserve better. They deserve justice. And we deserve the truth.”
Durbin concluded,“To the friends and families of Officers Hashida and DeFreytag, we are so sorry for your loss. We grieve with you. We will honor their memory. To all of the other police officers and National Guard members who defended the Capitol on January 6: despite what you hear from some of the politicians in Congress, we thank you and we appreciate your valor and your sacrifice.”
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
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