Man Ordered to Pay $500K Fine For Assaulting Police Officer During Capitol Riot

A legal decision on Monday delivered a financial penalty in answer to the chaos of the “🚩Stop the Steal” protests on Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

A federal jury awarded $500,000 to Erin Smith, the widow of Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith, who died by 🚨Suicide nine days after defending the U.S. Capitol. The man partially blamed for assaulting him during the riot, chiropractor David Walls-Kaufman, was found liable, according to the Associated Press.

The jury ordered Walls-Kaufman to pay $380,000 in punitive damages and $60,000 in compensatory damages to Erin Smith, along with another $60,000 to Jeffrey Smith’s estate for pain and suffering.

This followed a trial where jurors reviewed body camera footage and heard arguments about a pivotal three-second encounter inside the Capitol.

Despite the monetary award, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes had previously dismissed the widow’s wrongful-death claim, ruling that no juror could reasonably conclude that Walls-Kaufman’s actions alone caused the trauma leading to Smith’s Suicide