Ashli Babbitt was part of the MAGA mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6. There is disturbing video of rioters breaking the glass on doors near the House chamber. Desperate police had blocked the entrance with chairs to keep out the violent mob, but Babbitt was trying to climb through the shattered glass when she was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer.
When police kill Black people, there's usually only outcry when the kid is 12, the woman is asleep, or Domino's could deliver a pizza in the time the cop had pressed his knee on a Black man's neck. And even then, the cops feel annoyed that we've offered any feedback on their performance.
Babbitt, however, is what Fox News would describe simply as a “thug" or a “criminal" who was rightly killed while she was criming thuggishly. She was certainly no angel, but she's somehow become a rightwing martyr. They even briefly sold Ashli Babbitt “American Patriot" T-shirts at Sears (no, really).
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It's probably complicated because Babbitt is white and a Trump supporter. But you'd think that the Right would still side the cop, who is also probably a Trump supporter. Maybe the cop isn't white but I thought Republicans backed the blue no matter what! If they can overlook a cop shooting a suspect in the back, they could look the other way if the cop is Black.
Donald Trump claims he adores cops and famously suggested they “don't be too nice" to suspects (as if that was ever a problem). Now he's demanding that they reveal the identity of the officer who killed Babbitt. The Department of Justice has already ruled that the shooting was justified on account of insurrection, but Trump is stirring up his droogs against a cop who probably thought he had his back. It'd be funny if it weren't so pathetic.
During his press conference Wednesday announcing his goofy-ass lawsuit against Facebook, Twitter, and Google, President Law and Order called for an investigation into the officer who shot Babbitt. He said there was “no reason" for her to be killed, like he's some common liberal ingrate who doesn't appreciate the police. He's why they're all quitting! He also said Babbitt was shot in the head, which is a lie. She was shot in the shoulder and because this wasn't an action movie, she died from her injuries instead of just wrapping the wound in her ripped, dirty shirt before fighting more Terminators.
If the situation were reversed, Trump claimed, without specifying what he meant, the officer who shot Babbitt would be the most "well-known" man in the "world."
Apparently, whoever wrote this Forbes article was literally born the day before it was published. What a prodigy! It's obvious what Trump meant is that if Babbitt were Black, Al Sharpton, Stacey Abrams, and the whole Black Lives Matter brigade would've demanded justice and been in the streets protesting on behalf of the man shot during a routine traffic stop violent seditionist.
TRUMP: There were no guns in the Capitol, except for the gun that shot Ashli Babbitt.
First, yes there were. Second, this remark must've devastated the police, who think guns are everywhere. They also consider any “aggressive" action a potential threat to their own lives. It doesn't matter if the person is armed with a gun or just their limbs. You'd think when the police unions were endorsing Trump last year, they would've made sure he was fully on board with all their copaganda. But they probably took it for granted: After all, Trump defended the cops who seriously injured an old man at a protest in Buffalo.
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He supported, without hesitation, teen vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot and killed people in Kenosha, Wisconsin. This is the same President Klan Robe who tweeted, "When the looting starts, the shooting starts," but maybe he thinks the Capitol isn't as important as a Minneapolis CVS. He also wanted the military to shoot Black Lives Matter protesters in the arms and legs, so they too could've likely died like Babbitt.
This sudden attack of empathy for the victim of a police shooting might come as a surprise if you didn't fully understand Trump. He's like a gangster but dumber. Babbitt was a member of his gang, and while he'd eagerly sacrifice all his supporters for a Diet Coke on a silver platter, he doesn't appreciate anyone whacking one without his permission.
Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, was one of many chumps Trump radicalized with his election fraud lies, and she paid the ultimate price. She's been dead for six months now, but Trump isn't done using her.
[Forbes]
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