Tag: police shootings

Naming the Capitol Police Officer Who Killed Unarmed Jan. 6 Rioter Ashli Babbitt

Most police departments—including Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police—are required to release an officer’s name within days of a fatal shooting. Not the U.S. Capitol Police, which is controlled by Congress and answers only to Congress. It can keep the public in the dark about the identity and investigation of an officer involved in a shooting indefinitely.

Which is what happened with the Jan. 6 shooting of Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed protester in the U.S. Capitol riot who was fatally wounded by a plainclothes police lieutenant as she attempted to breach a set of doors inside the building.

For the past six months, as Congress has proposed legislation to reform police departments across the country, the Capitol Police has stiff-armed government watchdogs, journalists and even lawyers for Babbitt, who have sought the identity of the officer and additional details about the shooting. The USCP still refuses to release his name, in stark contrast to recent high-profile police shootings around the nation.

In February, USCP issued a press release promising to “share additional information once the investigation is complete.” But Justice Department investigators closed their probe in April, clearing the officer of criminal wrongdoing in Babbitt’s death, which the medical examiner ruled a homicide. And last month, the D.C. Police—which shares jurisdiction with the Capitol Police and has led the investigation into Babbitt’s shooting—concluded its own internal review of the shooting without making any findings, according to spokeswoman Kristen Metzger. Still, USCP continues “stonewalling the public,” according to the head of the police union.

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Portland Police Reassure Antifa That Man Shot by Police Was White to Avoid Riot

Portland Police moved to reassure Antifa extremists that a man they shot in the back was white in order to avoid a riot after it was erroneously reported the victim was black.

Yes, really.

After a man allegedly armed with a screwdriver was shot by cops outside a motel in Northeast Portland, authorities moved quickly to announce that the suspect was not African-American.

“There is erroneous information being circulated on social media regarding in the officer involved shooting in the Lloyd district. We can confirm that the subject involved is an adult white male. No one else was injured,” tweeted Portland Police.

As Andy Ngo highlighted, the tweet was posted in order to avoid a confrontation with Antifa rioters, who were already gathering at the location after rumors swirled that the man shot by police was black.

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Hero Liberty Activist Killed By Police After Stopping Mass Shooter Who Just Killed a Cop

On Monday, a deranged gunman, 59-year-old Ronald Troyke, began what was about to be a deadly mass shooting. His first victim would be Arvada Police Officer Gordon Beesley, and, according to the reports that evening, his next victim would be liberty activist and friend to many members of the Free Thought Project, including this author, Johnny Hurley. But it didn’t quite unfold like the original reports claimed. Hurley was actually the hero who stopped the gunman and when other officers arrived on scene, one of them killed the hero.

Johnny Hurley was an outspoken activist for freedom and peace and he spent the last decade or more of his life seeking those goals for the world. His dedication to the preservation of life was so strong that it actually cost him his own life.

According to multiple witnesses, when the gunman, Troyke, began shooting, Hurley did not hesitate and ran straight into danger, eliminating the threat and saving countless lives.

“He did not hesitate; he didn’t stand there and think about it. He totally heard the gunfire, went to the door, saw the shooter and immediately ran in that direction,” witness Bill Troyanos said. “I just want to make sure his family knows how heroic he was.”

“He turned back and looked towards everybody at the restaurant and told us that he (Troyke) is coming, that he is coming back and that we should get inside,” another witness who asked not to be identified said. “I ran to the back of the store, closer to the alley, kind of ‘nooked’ myself in a corner just to feel safe.”

“Mr. Hurley shot him. I think I heard 6 shots from his gun, maybe 5,” Troyanos said.

To those who witnessed the shooting, Hurley was hailed as a hero. He had stopped the deadly threat and saved many lives in the process. But his time as a living hero was only brief. Moments after saving countless lives, Hurley would be killed by police who likely mistook him for the shooter.

Arvada Police Chief Link Strate said in a news conference Tuesday that Hurley was “a true hero who likely disrupted what could have been a larger loss of life,” but would not say it was police who shot him.

Though police refused to confirm it was them who shot Hurley, Denver7 Chief Investigator Tony Kovaleski reported that they confirmed through three informed, ranking sources — including two law enforcement sources — that it was indeed a cop who ended this hero’s life.

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Ashli Babbitt’s husband goes on TV to push for answer on who fatally shot wife in Capitol breach

The husband of Ashli Babbitt has gone on television to push forward the effort to learn the name of the police officer who fatally shot his wife during the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

“Somebody up in D.C. knows,” Babbitt said Monday night on the Fox New Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” “I think a lot of people know, but nobody is telling us. And the silence is deafening … I never expected to lose my wife to political violence.”

Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, was fatally shot as she attempted to climb through the broken window of a door to the Speaker’s Lobby, just off the House floor. 

In April, the Justice Department announced that it would not seek charges against the officer who shot Babbitt, 35, following a “thorough investigation” by the Metropolitan Police Department. The department said the officer fired a service pistol, hitting Babbitt in the left shoulder, but no further information was released to the family. 

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