U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) Officer Howard Liebengood's suicide three days after the Jan. 6 insurrection was ruled a line-of-duty death on Monday.
The big picture: The decision by the Justice Department’s Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program ensures that Liebengood's family will be able to receive the health and financial benefits typically distributed to relatives of federal law enforcement who are killed in the line of fire.
- It also has larger implications for the profession, which has remained reluctant to link suicide to on-duty work due to stigma.
