Gunther Hashida killed himself on July 29.
We don’t know why. At this writing, we don’t even know how.
What we do know is that Hashida, an 18-year veteran of the D.C. police force, is the fourth cop to die by his own hand after responding to the Jan. 6 insurrection by Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol. What we do know, having heard testimony from four of Hashida’s colleagues before a House select committee, is that the cost of defending the Capitol was high, both in physical terms – bones broken, eyes gouged, skin split – and in emotional ones.
Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, along with D.C. Police Officer Michael Fanone, all used the same word to describe the emotional toll of that day: trauma.
Which brings us to another thing we know. Which is that none of the suffering these men endured seems to have made the slightest impression upon most so-called conservatives, or caused them to waver in their core mission to preserve, protect and defend Donald Trump. And there is no lie they won’t tell, no principle they won’t betray, no line they won’t cross, to do so.