Law & Crime: ‘A direct and proximate result’: Accused Jan. 6 rioters who teamed up to injure Capitol police officer that died by suicide days later still on the hook for wrongful death lawsuit

President Donald Trump may have criminally absolved Jan. 6 participants through pardons, commutations and dismissals this week, but that doesn’t erase the civil lawsuits that are currently pending against several rioters.

Defendants Taylor Taranto and Dr. David Walls-Kaufman, for instance, of Washington state, are both still facing wrongful death lawsuits for attacking a Capitol Police officer who shot and killed himself after suffering from “severe depression” and a “brain injury” caused by a concussion he allegedly sustained at their hands.

As first noted by the Tri-City Herald, Trump’s pardon does not dismiss the civil lawsuit filed by Erin Smith, the widow of Jeffrey Smith, who died by suicide on Jan. 15 just nine days after he was allegedly attacked during the Capitol riot by Taranto and Walls-Kaufman. Court filings viewed by Law&Crime on Thursday confirm the case is still active.

Jeffrey Smith used his service weapon to take his life while on the way to work, his wife says.

During the Jan. 6 riot, Jeffrey Smith was allegedly struck in the face by a metal tactical “cane” that Walls-Kaufman — a D.C. chiropractor — was wielding that day. Taranto is accused of giving him the cane.

“Kaufman was part of the insurrectionist mob inside the US Capitol and was being escorted out of the building by MPD officers,” the wrongful death suit says. “Co-Defendant Taranto handed a cane or crowbar (or similar object) to Kaufman. Kaufman, in turn, violently swung the cane and struck Officer Smith in the face/head.”

Erin Smith’s filing describes the attack as a violent crime of opportunity, with her husband being “in a particularly vulnerable situation because his face shield was up — “leaving his face and eyes exposed,” the lawsuit says.

“It appears that Kaufman and Taranto specifically and maliciously targeted Officer Smith because his visor was in the upright position, making him vulnerable to this brutal and vicious attack,” the suit charges.

Taranto, a U.S. Navy veteran, was caught on surveillance video clashing with Capitol police alongside Walls-Kaufman, prosecutors said. His trial for his alleged actions that day was scheduled to begin in May before it was scrubbed this week. Walls-Kaufman was sentenced in June 2023 to two months in prison after pleading guilty and admitting that he “scuffled” with officers, according to NBC News.

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‘A direct and proximate result’: Accused Jan. 6 rioters who teamed up to injure Capitol police officer that died by suicide days later still on the hook for wrongful death lawsuit