Third suicide among officers who defended US Capitol from rioters
A US police officer has become the third suicide among those who defended the Capitol building from rioters in January.
Washington DC police officer Gunther Hashida was found dead at his home on 29 July, leaving a wife and three children.
Mr Hashida, 43, was part of the emergency response team in the Special Operations Division of the Metropolitan Police Department.
He had joined the police department in May 2003 and a fundraising page has been set up seeking donations to “support his memorial service and his family in the loss of his love and guidance”.
A police spokesperson confirmed Mr Hashida’s death to Sky News, adding: “We are grieving as a department as our thoughts and prayers are with Officer Hashida’s family and friends.”
The officer’s suicide follows that of his colleagues Jeffrey Smith and Howard Liebengood, both of whom died within a month of the riot.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent her “deepest condolences” to Mr Hashida’s family and colleagues, describing him as “a hero who risked his life to save our Capitol, the congressional community, and our very democracy”.
She added: “All Americans are indebted to him for his great valour and patriotism on 6 January and throughout his selfless service.
Gunther Hashida is the third officer to kill himself after policing the Capitol riot. Pic: Facebook
“May Officer Hashida’s life be an inspiration to all to protect our country and democracy, and may it be a comfort to Officer Hashida’s family that so many mourn their loss and pray for them at this sad time.”
The Capitol was invaded by supporters of then-president Donald Trump on 6 January as a joint session of Congress was officially confirming Joe Biden’s win in the election a few months earlier.
More than 500 people were arrested, with around 140 police officers injured and one – Brian Sicknick – collapsing in his office after responding to the riot and dying the following day after two strokes.
Late in July, a congressional committee investigating the riot heard from four police officers who told them about the violence and abuse they experienced that day.
Police officers Aquilino Gonell, Michael Fanone, Daniel Hodges, and Harry Dunn told an congressional committee about their experience policing the riot
One of the officers, Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, said that for many in the police, the trauma resulting from the riot “has not ended”.
“That day continues to be a constant trauma for us literally every day, whether because of our physical or emotional injuries, or both,” he said.
One of his police colleagues Michael Fanone added: “What makes the struggle harder and more painful is to know so many of my fellow citizens, including so many people I put my life at risk to defend, are downplaying or outright denying what happened.
“I feel like I went to hell and back to protect them and the people in this room, but too many are telling me that hell doesn’t exist or that hell actually wasn’t that bad.
“The indifference shown to my colleagues is disgraceful.”
:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
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