Serena Liebengood is also calling for structural reforms to the Capitol Police that focus on mental health.
The widow of a Capitol Police officer who took his own life days after a mob stormed Congress and overwhelmed beleaguered officers says the agency’s failure to label her husband’s death as “in the line of duty” is a “wrong which must be rectified.”
In a letter to Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) — and circulated to colleagues by Wexton’s office — Serena Liebengood says her husband Howard’s death on Jan. 9 followed four days of nearly round-the-clock work following the attack on the Capitol.
“Although he was severely sleep-deprived, he remained on duty — as he was directed — practically around the clock from January 6th through the 9th. On the evening of the 9th, he took his life at our home,” Liebengood writes. Continue reading.