US Capitol Police Officer exonerated in shooting of Ashli Babbitt

She wasn’t a martyr. She was a QANON Domestic Terrorist. Don’t get that twisted and yet somehow the Trump-Republicans continue to portray her as a martyr. She wasn’t a martyr. Period. Full Stop.

US Capitol Police Memo

in to the shooting death of Ashli Babbitt reads in part:

USCP’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) determined the officer’s conduct was lawful and within Department policy, which says an officer may use deadly force only when the officer reasonably believes that action is in the defense of human life, including the officer’s own life, or in the defense of any person in immediate danger of serious physical injury.

And frankly it is the responsible thing to do to keep the identity of the USCP Officer’s name under wraps, as the USCP Memo further states:

The officer in this case, who is not being identified for the officer’s safety, will not be facing internal discipline.

This officer and the officer’s family have been the subject of numerous credible and specific threats for actions that were taken as part of the job of all our officers: defending the Congress, Members, staff and the democratic process.

Because these are the relevant and brutal facts - this USCP Officer was justified in using deadly force. Had that not occurred there could have been other deaths, especially those of high profile Democrat lawmakers. Many of whom these Domestic Terrorist openly stated their desire to “hang” or “assassinate” several members of Congress. Which are written in the hundreds of pages of various Court filings concerning the January 6th Domestic Terror attack.

The actions of the officer in this case potentially saved Members and staff from serious injury and possible death from a large crowd of rioters who forced their way into the U.S. Capitol and to the House Chamber where Members and staff were steps away. USCP Officers had barricaded the Speaker’s Lobby with furniture before a rioter shattered the glass door. If the doors were breached, the rioters would have immediate access to the House Chambers. The officer’s actions were consistent with the officer’s training and USCP policies and procedures.

Again the USCP Memo can be found here and this comports with the previously disclosed April 2021 USAO-DC OPA, also found here — which reads in part:

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia’s Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section and the Civil Rights Division, with the Metropolitan Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division (IAD), conducted a thorough investigation of Ms. Babbitt’s shooting.  Officials examined video footage posted on social media, statements from the officer involved and other officers and witnesses to the events, physical evidence from the scene of the shooting, and the results of an autopsy.  Based on that investigation, officials determined that there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution.  Officials from IAD informed a representative of Ms. Babbitt’s family today of this determination.

The April 2021 -USAO-DC OPA press release also stated -

…Ms. Babbitt was among a mob of people that entered the Capitol building and gained access to a hallway outside “Speaker’s Lobby,” which leads to the Chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives.  At the time, the USCP was evacuating Members from the Chamber, which the mob was trying to enter from multiple doorways.  USCP officers used furniture to barricade a set of glass doors separating the hallway and Speaker’s Lobby to try and stop the mob from entering the Speaker’s Lobby and the Chamber, and three officers positioned themselves between the doors and the mob.  Members of the mob attempted to break through the doors by striking them and breaking the glass with their hands, flagpoles, helmets, and other objects.

Moreover Donald Trump & his mob of Domestic Terrorist flat out lie that the USCP Officer “shot her in the head” is categorically false:

As members of the mob continued to strike the glass doors, Ms. Babbitt attempted to climb through one of the doors where glass was broken out.  An officer inside the Speaker’s Lobby fired one round from his service pistol, striking Ms. Babbitt in the left shoulder, causing her to fall back from the doorway and onto the floor.  A USCP emergency response team, which had begun making its way into the hallway to try and subdue the mob, administered aid to Ms. Babbitt, who was transported to Washington Hospital Center, where she succumbed to her injuries.

That said yes I feel bad for Ms Babbit’s family but I find it irresponsible and offensive that the Trump-Republicans are doing their best to make Ashli Babbitt out as some kind of martyr. She wasn’t a martyr, she was engaging in an unlawful act. When the facts show the use of deadly force was justified. Period. Full Stop.

10 CFR § 1047.7 - Use of deadly force.

Which reads in part:

§ 1047.7 Use of deadly force.

(a) Deadly force means that force which a reasonable person would consider likely to cause death or serious bodily harm. Its use may be justified only under conditions of extreme necessity, when all lesser means have failed or cannot reasonably be employed. A protective force officer is authorized to use deadly force only when one or more of the following circumstances exists:

(1)Self-Defense. When deadly force reasonably appears to be necessary to protect a protective force officer who reasonably believes himself or herself to be in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm.

(2)Serious offenses against persons. When deadly force reasonably appears to be necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offense against a person(s) in circumstances presenting an imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm (e.g. sabotage of an occupied facility by explosives).

The Supreme Court case law by provided that deadly force may be used where a DOJ officer has “a reasonable belief that the subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person.” Moreover the use-of-force policies of individual DOJ components described in the same 2009 report appear to reflect the standard that use of force “must be reasonable in the specific circumstance that the force is used.”

SCOTUS held:

First, reasonableness is judged “from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight.”..the Officer calculus must allow,.. “for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments—in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving[.]”

Second, the reasonableness inquiry is an objective one; the appropriateness of a use of force is gauged by what is “‘objectively reasonable’ in light of the facts and circumstances confronting” an officer. As such, the officer’s “underlying intent or motivation” is irrelevant.

SCOTUS several factors to be included in the assessment of the reasonableness of a particular use of force:

1. “the severity of the crime at issue,”

2. “whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others,” and

3. whether the suspect “is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.”

With respect to the use of lethal force, SCOTUS specifically, stated …that use of such force is permissible where…

“the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a threat of serious physical harm, either to the officer or to others[.]”… “if the suspect threatens the officer with a weapon or there is probable cause to believe that he has committed a crime involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious physical harm, deadly force may be used if necessary to prevent escape, and if, where feasible, some warning has been given.”

See BJS-DOJ report https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/fleo16st.pdf concerning Federal Law Enforcement use of deadly force…

Again you don’t have to agree with my opinion and I won’t take it personally. However the facts are the facts. And facts should remain paramount, irrespective of the Trump-Republicans attempt to white wash the January 6th Domestic Terror attack.

And while I might be in the minority I’m very thankful for this USCP Officer doing their job —because the use of deadly force isn’t something to rejoice in —rather I’m grateful that this Officer’s action likely prevented the deaths of lawmakers and their staff —many of whom were evacuating the House Chamber as the mob of Domestic Terrorist tried to break the outer perimeter of the Speaker’s Lobby.

-Filey