A federal jury on Monday awarded $500,000 to the widow and estate of a police officer who killed himself nine days after he helped defend the U.S. Capitol from a mob of rioters, including a man who scuffled with the officer during the attack.
The eight-member jury ordered that man, 69-year-old chiropractor David Walls-Kaufman, to pay $380,000 in punitive damages and $60,000 in compensatory damages to Erin Smith for assaulting her husband, Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith, inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. They awarded an additional $60,000 to compensate Jeffrey Smith’s estate for his pain and suffering.
The judge presiding over the civil trial dismissed Erin Smith’s wrongful-death claim against Walls-Kaufman before jurors began deliberating last week. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said no reasonable juror could conclude that Walls-Kaufman’s actions were capable of causing a traumatic brain injury leading to Smith’s death.
Can Donakd pardon people involved in civil trials, or otherwise mess with the outcome?
Yes actually. So far Trump has pardoned an estimated $1.3 BILLION in fines and restitutions.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/8/fact-checking-claims-trumps-pardons-wiped-out-1bn-in-debt-owed-to-us
He doesn’t have to. The MAGAts will start a gofundme or some billionaire will pay the bill.
Can’t have any precedents that might deter Boomer criminals in the future.
No billionaire is going to pay this.
More likely is that MAGAts will harass if not kill the widow for even thinking of suing one of them.
He could simply sue the government and get it back.
Why would billionaire MAGA pay? We were told many times that the insurrectionists were antifa. So this guy must be antifa too.
I would expect him to try. Or at least complain about the “liberal judge”.