A federal jury ordered a man to pay $500,000 for assaulting a police officer who died by suicide nine days after the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The eight-person jury on Monday ordered David Walls-Kaufman — a 69-year-old chiropractor who lived a few blocks from the Capitol — to pay $380,000 in punitive damages and $60,000 in compensatory damages to Erin Smith, the widow of former Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith.
The jury also ordered Walls-Kaufman to pay $60,000 to the officer’s estate for his pain and suffering.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, who is presiding over the civil trial, dismissed the widow’s wrongful death claim before the jury began deliberations last week. She said no reasonable juror could conclude Walls-Kaufman’s action could have caused a traumatic brain injury that led to his death.
But the jury deliberated the widow’s other claims and sided with her on Friday, holding Walls-Kaufman liable for assaulting Jeffrey Smith inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Their encounter was captured on Jeffrey Smith’s body camera footage.
Erin Smith claims Walls-Kaufman used her husband’s own police baton to strike the officer in the head, giving him a concussion that caused psychological and physical trauma that led to his suicide.
The officer died by suicide on Jan. 15, 2021, driving to work for the first time since the Capitol riot. The family said the officer had no history of mental health problems before the Jan. 6 riot and that he was cleared to return to duty before his death.
Walls-Kaufman denies assaulting the officer and said his injuries occurred later in the day, when another rioter threw a pole that struck Smith’s head.
“No crime happened. I never struck the officer. I never intended to strike the officer,” Walls-Kaufman said, calling the outcome of the trial “absolutely ridiculous.”
Walls-Kaufman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor related to the Capitol riot and served a 60-day prison sentence. He was pardoned by President Trump in January, along with nearly 1,600 people charged in connection to the attack.
The Associated Press contributed.
