Tag: shooting

Commentary: Police Officer Who Killed Ashli Babbitt was Cleared of Criminal Wrongdoing Without Interview

RealClearWire

When U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd went on “NBC Nightly News” to tell his side of shooting and killing unarmed Jan. 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt, he made a point to note he’d been investigated by several agencies and exonerated for his actions that day.

“There’s an investigative process [and] I was cleared by the DOJ [Department of Justice], and FBI and [the D.C.] Metropolitan Police,” he told NBC News anchor Lester Holt in August, adding that the Capitol Police also cleared him of wrongdoing and decided not to discipline or demote him for the shooting.

Byrd then answered a series of questions by Holt about the shooting, but what he told the friendly journalist, he likely never told investigators. That’s because he refused to answer their questions, according to several sources and documents reviewed by RealClearInvestigations.

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Officer Who Shot Ashli Babbitt Will Not Face Any Disciplinary Action, Conduct Was ‘Lawful’ U.S. Capitol Police Announce

Minnesota Sun Staff

The U.S. Capitol Police said Monday that it would not take any action against the officer who shot and killed rioter Ashli Babbitt on Jan 6.

“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,” the department said in a statement. The officer’s identity was not disclosed due to safety concerns.

“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,” the department said.

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Commentary: Naming the Capitol Police Officer Who Killed Unarmed January 6 Rioter Ashli Babbitt

RealClearWire
US Capitol Police at The Supreme Court

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.

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New York Psychiatrist Admits in Yale Lecture to Fantasizing About Shooting White People

Minnesota Sun Staff
Aruna Khilanani

A psychiatrist from New York City went on a racist rant back in April in which she expressed her desire to kill White people simply because they are White, as heard in recently-revealed audio of the lecture, the New York Post reports.

The comments were made by Dr. Aruna Khilanani during a lecture to the Yale School of Medicine on April 6th. She said that she dreams of “unloading a revolver into the head of any White person that got in my way,” and that if she did so, she would leave the scene of the crime “with a bounce in my step.” She added that White people “make [her] blood boil,” and also believes that White people “are out of their minds and have been for a long time.”

The lecture was titled “The Psychopathic Problem of the White Mind.” During the speech, Khilanani talked about “learning objectives” such as “[setting] up White people’s absence of empathy towards black rage as a problem,” and also claiming that “White people are psychologically dependent on black rage.” These details, along with the full audio of the lecture, were posted online via Substack on Friday, by former New York Times editor Bari Weiss.

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Minneapolis Shootings, Homicides Have More than Doubled Compared to Same Time Last Year

Minnesota Sun Staff
Minneapolis Police SUV

2020 was one of the deadliest years in Minneapolis history with 83 homicides, yet the city is on track to surpass that record number in 2021.

The Minneapolis City Council was told Thursday that homicides have more than doubled so far this year compared to the same timeframe last year. This year’s 27 murders (as of May 17) represent a 108% increase over the 13 reported at this point in time last year.

With 97 homicides, 1995 was the worst year on record, followed by 83 in 1996, meaning 2020 tied for the second-worst year.

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Florida Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump Falsely Claims Columbus Shooting Victim Was Unarmed

Grant Holcomb

Tallahassee-based civil rights attorney Ben Crump falsely claimed on Twitter yesterday the victim of the police-involved shooting in Columbus, OH was unarmed. As bodycam footage was released, it found the victim, a 16-year-old black female, Ma’Khia Bryant, was wielding a knife and threatening two other females.

Some on social media were outraged at the lethal use of force by the officer, including Crump who said on Twitter, “As we breathed a collective sigh of relief today, a community in Columbus felt the sting of another police shooting as @ColumbusPolice killed an unarmed 15yo Black girl named Makiyah Bryant. Another child lost! Another hashtag. #JusticeForMakiyahBryant.”

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Defund the Police Movement Contributed to Rise in Violence, Experts Say

The Center Square
Group of protestors

Calls to defund the police have once again been thrust into the national spotlight after a string of high profile police shootings, but data show the rallying cry for police reformers may not hold water.

After the death of Daunte Wright at the hands of police in Minnesota, U.S. Rep. Rashida Talib, D-Mich., made headlines this week for posting on Twitter: “No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed.”

Later in the week, Senate lawmakers blasted President Joe Biden’s Justice Department Civil Rights Division nominee Kristen Clarke after reports that she wrote an op-ed calling for defunding the police. Clarke pushed back, arguing that was not the point of her writing.

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Multiple Shooting Victims Reported at Knoxville, Tennessee High School, Police Say

Minnesota Sun Staff
Austin-Magnet High School

by Andrew Trunsky   Multiple shooting victims were reported at a Knoxville, Tennessee, high school Monday, the city’s police department said. One person was confirmed dead at the scene, and a police officer was sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the Knoxville Police Department (KPD) said in a statement. The…

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Austin: Roadway Confrontation Between Antifa/BLM Protester and Driver Ends in Gunfire

Minnesota Sun Staff

A protester allegedly armed with a rifle at a demonstration against police violence in the Texas capital was shot and killed by a driver after a witness says he confronted a vehicle that attempted to drive through a crowd blocking a downtown Austin intersection. 

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DOJ Announces Twin Cities Violent Crimes Task Force In Response to ‘Extraordinary Spike’ in Violence

Anthony Gockowski

The Department of Justice announced the formation of a new Twin Cities Violent Crimes Task Force Wednesday in response to an “extraordinary spike in gun violence and violent crimes.”

Erica MacDonald, U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota, said the task force will bring together federal and state resources to assist local law enforcement in investigating, arresting, and prosecuting individuals responsible for gun violence.

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A 3rd Shooting Reported in Seattle’s CHAZ as Mayor Moves to End the Police-Free Zone

Minnesota Sun Staff

Seattle Police Tuesday morning reported the third shooting in Seattle’s Capitol Hill “autonomous zone” since Saturday. In all, four people have been shot in CHAZ, including one victim who died.

The shooting was reported just before 5:00 a.m. just outside of Cal Anderson Park on the edge of the zone, also known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP).

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One Man Dead, 11 People Wounded in Minneapolis Shooting

The Associated Press

A shooting in a popular Minneapolis nightlife area early Sunday left one man dead and 11 people wounded in a chaotic scene that sent people ducking into restaurants and other businesses for cover.

The shooting broke out shortly after midnight in the city’s trendy Uptown neighborhood, a nightlife hub with bars, restaurants and retail including Apple and Fjallraven stores.

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Steven Carrillo, the Suspect in Santa Cruz County Sheriff Deputy Damon Gutzwiller, Was Member of Elite Military Team

Tennessee Star Staff

An active-duty U.S. Air Force sergeant accused of killing a Northern California sheriff’s deputy in an ambush-style attack was a leader for a military base’s elite security force, officials said Monday.

Staff Sgt. Steven Carrillo has been arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting Santa Cruz County sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller and wounding two other officers Saturday. He is expected to be charged with first-degree murder.

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Commentary: America Needs Heroes Like Jack Wilson

Minnesota Sun Staff

Unmixed admiration is the only appropriate response to Jack Wilson’s heroic intervention to stop the deadly shooting last month at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas. With a single bullet, Wilson saved countless lives in his congregation. While Wilson has been humble, Americans across the country have been inspired by his heroic actions.

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Congregant Involved in Latest St. Paul Shooting Had Legal Permit to Carry, Returned Suspect’s Fire

Anthony Gockowski

A St. Paul man was murdered Wednesday night outside of his church, though there could have been more victims were it not for one congregant’s legal permit to carry a firearm.

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Capital Gazette Reporter: Slain Colleague Who Charged Shooter With Trash Can ‘Saved My Life’

Admin
Wendi Winters

by Robert Shimshock   Capital Gazette employees reflected on a colleague Saturday who heroically charged the shooter, buying others time with her sacrifice. Reporter Wendi Winters charged shooting suspect Jarrod Ramos with a recycling bin and trash can during the June 28 attack, The Capital Gazette reported. She had learned at…

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