Senators vote for police medals

Measure to honor D.C., Capitol forces now headed to Biden

WASHINGTON — The Senate has voted to award Medals of Honor to the Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department for protecting Congress during the Jan. 6 insurrection, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden for his signature.

Under the bill, which passed by voice vote with no objections, there will be four medals — to be displayed at the Capitol Police headquarters, the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Capitol and the Smithsonian Institution.

Hundreds of officers from the two police departments responded to the attack and dozens of them were beaten and injured as the mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump pushed past them to break into the building and interrupt the certification of Biden’s victory. The police and National Guard troops eventually cleared the building and the count resumed.

The medals are “a recognition that will be on display for people to understand and remember what these officers did,” Senate Rules Committee Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn, said in an interview with The Associated Press shortly before she called up the bill for passage.

While introducing the legislation, Klobuchar said children of the future will be able to walk by and see the medals in the Smithsonian, and their parents will tell them: “This happened, this attack happened.”

The Senate passage happened after 21 House Republicans voted against the measure in June, some of them objecting to the language in the bill that referred to a “mob of insurrectionists.” Trump, along with many Republicans still loyal to him, has downplayed the rioting and tried to rebrand it as a peaceful protest, even as law enforcement officers who responded that day have detailed the violence and made clear the toll it has taken on them. Four officers gave emotional testimony in Congress last week about their mental and physical injuries.

No Senate Republicans objected. The top Republican on the Senate Rules panel, Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, said the medals recognize’ “the selflessness, the dedication, the willingness to stand in the way of danger.” Blunt said he hopes they will send “a clear message” of appreciation to the two departments.

OFFICER SUICIDES DOUBLE

The number of officers who have died by suicide in wake of their response to the insurrection doubled late Monday, with the Metropolitan Police Department in the District of Columbia confirming the deaths of two more officers, taking the toll to four.

Officer Kyle DeFreytag, a 26-year-old Pennsylvania native, was found dead July 10. He served in the city’s 5th District and was deployed to enforce a curfew implemented the night of Jan. 6.

“I am writing to share tragic news that Officer Kyle DeFreytag … was found deceased last evening,” Chief Robert Contee III wrote in a mid-July message obtained by WUSA-TV. “This is incredibly hard news for us all, and for those that knew him best.”

Confirmation of DeFreytag’s death was made just hours after the department revealed that officer Gunther Hashida was found dead at his home Thursday.

“We are grieving as a department and our thoughts and prayers are with Officer Hashida’s family and friends,” department spokesperson Hugh Carew said in a statement to the Daily News.

Hashida, a veteran of the force since 2003, was assigned to the police Emergency Response Team the day of the Jan. 6 riot.

“Officer Hashida was a hero, who risked his life to save our Capitol, the Congressional community and our very Democracy,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement. “All Americans are indebted to him for his great valor and patriotism on January 6th and throughout his selfless service.”

Their deaths marked the third and fourth suicides among officers who responded to the U.S. Capitol insurrection. Howard Liebengood, who joined the U.S. Capitol Police in 2005, died by suicide three days after the attack, while Metropolitan Police officer Jeffrey Smith, a 12-year veteran of the force, took his life “in the aftermath of that battle,” Contee said during a private meeting with congressional leaders in January.

Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick also died from a stroke a day after he was bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher and pelted with pepper spray during his response to the chaos. Two men have been charged with assaulting him.