A recent letter writer wanted to know who died as a result of the mob violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6. ("One person died as the result of Jan. 6, violence," Jan. 13.) Officer Brian Sicknick was pepper sprayed and incapacitated for 20 minutes that day, and while his death the next day was ruled due to the two strokes he had that night, the attending doctor said, "All that transpired played a role in his death" [Reuters]. Officer Howie Liebengood worked extended shifts both during and right after the riot and committed suicide three days later. Officer Jeffrey Smith, beaten and struck with a metal pole during the riot, committed suicide nine days later. Participating officers Kyle DeFreytag and Gunther Hashida both committed suicide last July.

In addition to the woman shot while breaking into the Capitol on Jan. 6, another Trump supporter died of a heart attack that day, another one died of a stroke, and a fourth apparently died due to an amphetamine overdose. All nine of the deaths mentioned here should be on the head of the person who egged on the crowd to "fight like hell" and then watched them on TV and did nothing to stop the violence for hours, hoping they would succeed in illegally keeping him in power.

David Downes

Groton