Inside the Deadly Capitol Shooting

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:

Evan Hill
@evanchill
.@adamgoldmanNYT & @shailadewan provide new details on the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt by a Capitol Police officer on Jan. 6, relying on two people with direct knowledge of the officer’s account. I'll thread some here

Inside the Deadly Capitol Shooting
With a mob approaching, a police lieutenant fatally shot a woman trying to vault through a window near the House Chamber.
nytimes.com
2:20 PM · Jan 23, 2021

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/23/us/capitol-police-shooting-ashli-babbitt.html

WASHINGTON — During the four-and-a-half-hour attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, one of the moments when the mob came closest to the lawmakers they were pursuing took place just after 2:30 p.m.

On one side of a set of antique wood and glass doors were dozens of lawmakers and their aides trying to evacuate the House chamber.

On the other were rioters yelling “Stop the steal” as they hammered the panes with a flagpole, a helmet and even a bare fist.

In between was a Capitol Police lieutenant, scrambling to pile tables and chairs into a makeshift barricade. He had 31 rounds for his service weapon, and he has told others that he feared he might need them all.

At the height of the standoff, a woman named Ashli Babbitt tried to vault through a window. The lieutenant, his weapon already extended, pulled the trigger once, killing her in a confrontation that was captured on video and widely viewed around the world.

At least three investigations into the security response on Jan. 6 are underway, and officials have not provided the full details of Ms. Babbitt’s death.

But videos taken of the episode, legal documents and witness accounts point to a dire set of circumstances and an officer left to confront a mob. The officer, a lieutenant who has not been publicly named, has been placed on administrative leave while his actions are reviewed by federal authorities.

The use of deadly force by officers is considered legally justified if they have an “objectively reasonable” fear of serious, imminent harm to themselves or others. Several policing experts said that video of the encounter was not enough for them to offer an opinion on the shooting. But interviews with two people with direct knowledge of the officer’s account suggest he will make the case that he acted to protect lawmakers from harm.

*snip*

[superpatriotman]

1. Thank you for posting something I could read

Other than a link to a tweet!

[UpInArms]

7. From the tweet thread

[UpInArms]

8. And more ...

[UpInArms]

9. And the last in the thread

Though fighting will continue at other breach points for more than two hours, the Speakers Lobby is the high-water mark of the incursion, and Babbitt's shooting effectively ends the mob's efforts to reach lawmakers in the House.

Link to tweet

[Lunabell]

2. I feel bad for that officer.

Even when it is legal and justified, I'm sure they probably have ptsd over the whole situation.

[AntiFascist]

3. The officer was clearly waving the gun at them before he fired...

and insurrectionists were yelling "he's got a gun, he's got gun!" several times, but Babbitt decided to go in anyway.

[alphafemale]

4. It is almost like she did not believe she would be shot.

Merely because she was a white woman, or she thought there was inside help?

[LeftInTX]

13. She didn't seem to be paying attention to them

John Sullivan was filming on the far left. There were three cops blocking the rioters, the cops weren't safe. Ashli is jumping up and down, screaming, but the cops seem to be keeping her at bay. The cops move out of the way. (I assume this is when the cops knew a tactical unit was arriving up the stairs)

After the cops move, the banging gets worse. John Sullivan says, "He's got a gun". Ashli was on the far right jumping up and down. The two other guys move out of the way after hearing John Sullivan. Ashli hops through the broken window. She gets shot.

Video:
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/video-shows-fatal-shooting-of-ashli-babbitt-at-u-s-capitol/2535527/

[AntiFascist]

15. "There's a gun" was shouted 3 times and "He's got a gun" yelled out twice. n/t

[LeftInTX]

16. But it was really noisy and she had been held back by the cops and re-emerged when they left

Who knows if she could hear him or not???
She seemed to be worked up into a frenzy, so even if she could physically hear, she may not have listened.
John S sounds loud, but he's speaking into his mic.

[louis-t]

5. Did anyone else hear a guy say

"it's only a flash bang"? Probably the guy filming.

[LeftInTX]

14. I heard, "He's got a gun" from John Sullivan, but the video you referenced may be behind a paywall

Sullivan seemed to think the gun was real and the two banging guys backed away after hearing Sullivan.

Video here: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/video-shows-fatal-shooting-of-ashli-babbitt-at-u-s-capitol/2535527/

ETA: Found the other video. Someone said flash bang after the shooting. The person that said "flash bang" was further from the door than John Sullivan.

[Doremus]

6. If you watch the full video, you can plainly see members of Congress standing in that exact hallway

not more than 50 feet from those doors shortly before the windows were broken out.

Had that officer not shot, the terrorists could have probably located them and done god knows what.

[UpInArms]

11. The last statement in the tweet thread

Though fighting will continue at other breach points for more than two hours, the Speakers Lobby is the high-water mark of the incursion, and Babbitt's shooting effectively ends the mob's efforts to reach lawmakers in the House.

[Cha]

10. Rt.. TY for this information

[Crunchy Frog]

12. Gosh, I wish they did this kind of soul searching everytime they shot a black person,

who isn't breaking into secured area of the Capitol with violent intent towards elected lawmakers.

FWIW, I think the shooting was entirely appropriate under the circumstances, and these insurrectionists got off super easy.

[LeftInTX]

17. Really