Erin Smith, the widow of Washington, D.C., police officer Jeff Smith, who died by suicide following the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, asked a judge to sentence Dana Bell, a rioter who harassed her husband, to a stiff penalty. Bell, a 66-year-old woman from Texas with no prior criminal record, was sentenced to 17 months in prison for assaulting and resisting police during the siege. Bell was accused of grabbing at a police baton and confronting Officer Jeff Smith as he tried to clear the mob near the House Speaker’s Lobby.
The Justice Department prosecutor presented footage from Jeff Smith’s body camera showing Bell assaulting him during the chaos of the riot. Bell was heard telling Smith to “get a real job” and physically struggling with him as police attempted to clear away the crowd. Erin Smith stated in court that her husband died protecting democracy itself, and his death by suicide was determined to be a line-of-duty death linked to the injuries he sustained during the riot.
During her sentencing hearing, Bell tearfully apologized and admitted responsibility for her actions. She apologized to the government, taxpayers, law enforcement officers, and directly to Erin Smith. According to prosecutors, Bell not only harassed officers during the riot but also refused to leave an area near the Speaker’s Lobby where a rioter had been shot, preventing medical personnel from accessing the wounded person. Bell continued to disobey police instructions and even gave them commands while ignoring their requests to leave the area.
Erin Smith has become a public advocate for line-of-duty death benefits for law enforcement officers who died by suicide after the January 6 attack. She has highlighted the mental toll that the riot and its aftermath took on her husband and other officers who responded to the Capitol that day, several of whom also died by suicide in the weeks following the events. Despite Bell’s apology, she is one of over 600 defendants who have been sentenced to incarceration for their roles in the Capitol assault, with more arrests expected before the statute of limitations expires in 2026.
The emotional testimony from Erin Smith during Bell’s sentencing shed light on the devastating impact of the U.S. Capitol siege on law enforcement officers and their families. Jeff Smith’s traumatic brain injury and subsequent death left his wife a widow at just 35 years old, robbing him of the opportunity to serve as a police officer and Erin of the chance to become a mother. The case of Dana Bell serves as a reminder of the consequences of the violent insurrection that took place on January 6, 2021, and the ongoing legal repercussions for those who participated in the attack on the nation’s Capitol.
