Now, as an increasingly-lawful neutral proponent of order, I have no truck with those who stormed the Capitol. Yes, with the perspective of time, it seems that much of the reportage was overblown. Yet there was no shortage of leadership malfeasance, from the President to the Pentagon to the Speaker, etc., which made this far worse than it had to be.
Ultimately, moral agency demands that the protestors take the consequences for the laws they broke.
However, a curious silence has fallen over the circumstances of the death of Ashli Babbitt, the sole protestor who died of a gunshot fired by a Capitol police officer.
To this day, we do not know the status of the investigation. Alas, the only journalist asking questions about the current status is former CBS correspondent Sheryl Attkisson.(1) In a climate where police shootings justified or not must be carefully investigated, the lack of updates is striking.
Note (1) Unlike Attkisson, I do not think that the failure to identify the shooting officer during the investigation merits concern--unless federal procedures are different. As the Hakim Littleton shooting in Detroit shows, there are good reasons not to give out officer names before a violation has been established.
Supposedly, the investigation was concluded over two months ago and recommended no charges against the officer.
ReplyDeleteI remain a skeptic on police violence. You think: would pepper spray, a shot in the foot, or a fire extinguisher have better optics.