Thursday, January 07, 2021

The Insurrection Was Predictable

Yesterday’s events were the expression of a dangerous authoritarian movement that has been long in the making.

Pro-Trump protesters gather in front of the US Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Jon Cherry / Getty Images)

Two months ago, we published a series of reports on the growing threat of a coup attempt, wondering why it wasn’t being taken more seriously by Democrats and the media. We were scoffed at and eye-rolled, as if such things could never happen in America.

Nobody is scoffing or eye-rolling anymore, after Wednesday’s events at the US Capitol. There, insurrectionists stormed the building and halted the certification of the national election, as security forces allowed them to breach the Senate chamber and shut down the proceedings. There was a notable difference in the way federal security forces met last year’s Black Lives Matter protests with a show of force, and the way they allowed the Capitol to be overrun by right-wing authoritarians that they knew were coming.

About a decade ago, I wrote a book called The Uprising, which described how we were entering an era of chaos in which right-wing groups would try to seize power under the guise of populism. Clearly, that has been happening — we saw it speed up during the Tea Party backlash, and it was further accelerated by Donald Trump, who is a unique president in his willingness to use the White House megaphone to foment and destabilize.

Wednesday’s events were the result of all that incitement. It was a culmination that happened inside a culture of total impunity— and it is worth considering five points of context to understand what we’re really dealing with here, because it will likely continue after Trump leaves the White House.

We have long known that the far right — and specifically many Trump supporters — are hostile to democracy.
Polling data from Monmouth University in 2019 found that about one-third of the strongest supporters of Trump scored in the highest ratings for authoritarian tendencies. In all, Democracy Fund data show that roughly one-third of Americans “say that an authoritarian alternative to democracy would be favorable.” That’s what was on display Wednesday.

While Trump has tried to blame violence on the Left, his administration has been trying to downplay the threat of right-wing authoritarianism and white supremacy. In a whistleblower complaint, a former top Homeland Security official alleged that Trump officials ordered him to modify an agency report’s section “on white supremacy in a manner that made the threat appear less severe.” Politico reported earlier this year that Homeland Security officials have “waged a years-long internal struggle to get the White House to pay attention to the threat of violent domestic extremists” — but they gave up because Trump wasn’t interested. Instead, federal security forces were focusing on deporting immigrants and investigating environmental activists.

The Capitol Police have a
$460 million budget and 2,300 personnel to guard the US Capitol complex. For comparison, that is twice the size of the budget of my own city’s police department, which is used to secure an entire metropolis. Somehow, this army of Capitol security forces was unable — or unwilling — to stop insurrectionists from breaching the building and taking over the floor of the US Senate. And it’s not like they were caught by surprise — they had advance warning of the potential for unrest. So it’s almost as if they weren’t trying to stop the mayhem.

Washington mayor Muriel Bowser’s request to send National Guard reinforcements to the Capitol was initially
rejected by the Defense Department — the same department whose leadership was recently purged and then replaced with Trump loyalists. That doesn’t seem like a coincidence, considering Trump initially refused to call for the insurrectionists to disperse.
The insurrection clearly fed off months of misinformation by Republican Party officials who continued to push the lie that the national election was plagued by fraud. Those lies spread: a survey last month found that three-quarters of Republican voters believe the election was fraudulent. Even though nobody has produced evidence of systemic fraud, Republican lawmakers in Washington continued to fuel the conspiracy theories, ultimately pressing Congress to overturn the national election. One photo caught Missouri senator Josh Hawley raising a fist to the oncoming insurrectionists as he headed to the Capitol to try to halt the certification of the election.


From our Francis Chung, Sen. Josh Hawley greeting protesters in the east side of the Capitol before riots began. pic.twitter.com/I8DjBCDuoP
— Manuel Quinones (@ManuelQ) January 6, 2021


As I wrote earlier this week, the Republican Party officials who fueled and abetted this insurrection did so because they assume they will experience no political, social, or legal consequences for their behavior. On the contrary, they will likely be rewarded with higher approval ratings and support from many Republican voters. And if the Look Forward Not Backward™ crowd gets its way and makes sure there are no legal consequences for any of Trump’s many crimes, then these Republicans will know they have a lifetime get-out-of-jail-free card for their own extremist behavior.

After all of this, if nothing changes, then I tend to agree with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s aide Dan Riffle, who today said that “it always — even in moments like this — can get worse. If recent history is any guide, it almost certainly will.”


But things can still change — and they must.

In The Uprising, I argued that the best way to counter the rise of right-wing populism and to prevent it from proliferating is for an opposition movement and party to not just issue vague paeans to democracy and the soul of the nation. The opposition must also deliver tangible, material gains for working people — rather than continuing to be an elite and effete caretaker of a let-them-eat-cake establishment that right-wing provocateurs can forever burn in effigy.

The New Deal delivering such gains to the working class helped tamp down the outbreak of right-wing fascism in America. Nearly a century later, the Georgia elections this week proved the same point. There, two right-wing Republican authoritarians were defeated by the black reverend who runs Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s church and by a Jewish guy — and the Democratic duo won by relentlessly campaigning on a simple promise to deliver $2,000 checks to millions of Georgians facing eviction, starvation, and bankruptcy.

Of course, no matter what Democrats might deliver — survival checks, a higher minimum wage, guaranteed medical care, massive investments in job creation, a crackdown on abusive corporations — there will always be a right-wing authoritarian movement in America willing to weaponize racism and illiberalism for its cause.

So it’s not simple: there is not a straightforward one-to-one relationship between enacting policies that improve people’s lives and instantly snuffing out the kind of fascism that reared its head at the Capitol on Wednesday. But delivering for millions of people who’ve been economically pulverized for generations is the best and probably only way to try to halt fascism’s wider spread to more of the general population over the long haul.

That work must begin now.

Not tomorrow. Not in a few months.

Right now.


Conversation

From our Francis Chung, Sen. Josh Hawley greeting protesters in the east side of the Capitol before riots began.
Image

 

Ted Cruz faces fierce blowback after his objection to Joe Biden’s victory and riot at the U.S. Capitol

Wednesday’s chaos led to calls for Cruz’s resignation from Texas Democrats. But Cruz says he “ain’t going anywhere.”

Two nights before the Electoral College certification in Congress, Ted Cruz was in vintage form.

The junior U.S. senator from Texas was calling in to a friendly conservative radio host — Mark Levin — and setting up Wednesday’s vote to be the kind of intraparty line in the sand that has powered his political rise.

By then, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had made clear that he opposed objections to certifying Joe Biden’s election as the next president. But Cruz and 10 other GOP senators announced they would still object unless Congress agreed to an “emergency audit” of the presidential election results.

Cruz told Levin that there were some conservatives “who in good conscience” disagree with his view of Congress’ role in certifying the presidential election results, and that he had talked to them and did not fault them. On the other hand, Cruz said, there were “some Republicans who are not conservatives but who are piously and self-righteously preening” when it comes to the issue.

In spearheading the group of objectors, Cruz arguably upstaged U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, who announced his plan to object three days earlier — and, like Cruz, is considered a potential 2024 presidential contender.

But on Wednesday, what Cruz might have thought was a savvy political play took an alarming turn: Supporters of President Donald Trump stormed and ransacked the U.S. Capitol while lawmakers were considering Cruz’s objection. Three people suffered medical emergencies during the siege and died; their deaths were in addition to another woman who was shot by a Capitol police officer.

Cruz denounced the violence but incurred a fierce backlash from critics in both parties, who said his drive to question the election results — and appease the president and his supporters ahead of a possible 2024 run — helped fan the flames of anger among Trump supporters. Prominent Texas Democrats called for him to resign. Many others suggested he’d played an inciting role in one of the darkest days in modern American history.

Politically, it was a high-stakes distillation of GOP tactics in the era of Trump.


In recent months, Cruz has positioned himself as one of the most prominent and vocal Trump supporters casting doubt on the election. Two days after Election Day, Cruz charged that Philadelphia officials were not allowing election observers to watch the counting of votes in the swing state, even though Trump’s lawyers conceded that they had been allowed in the room.

In December, Trump asked Cruz if he would be willing to argue a long shot case filed by Attorney General Ken Paxton seeking to invalidate the election results in states like Pennsylvania in the event that it reached the U.S. Supreme Court. (Cruz agreed, but the high court ultimately said Texas did not have standing to bring the case.)

And in the days ahead of Wednesday’s certification, Cruz raised concerns about how many people believed fraud had occurred in the election, without acknowledging the role he had played in encouraging those beliefs

“We’ve seen in the last two months unprecedented allegations of voter fraud,” Cruz said in an early January interview on Fox News. “And that’s produced a deep, deep distrust of our democratic process across the country. I think we in Congress have an obligation to do something about that.”

But people in both parties have questioned his motives.

“Proposing a commission at this late date — which has zero chance of becoming reality — is not effectively fighting for President Trump,” U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, tweeted. “It appears to be more of a political dodge than an effective remedy.”

As people stormed the Capitol building, Cruz insisted on Twitter that violence “is ALWAYS wrong” and called the attack a “despicable act of terrorism and a shocking assault on our democratic system.”

“Those engaged in violence are hurting the cause they say they support,” he said.

He did not, however, withdraw his objections to the Election Day results.

It didn’t help that Cruz on Wednesday was fundraising off his Electoral College challenge, with some money-seeking texts hitting phones as Trump supporters wreaked havoc at the Capitol. (An aide to Cruz said the messages were sent “from a firm” and not approved by Cruz to be sent.) To Cruz’s critics, including those within his own party, it was emblematic of the kind of naked political ambition that they have long abhorred about him.

“The Cruz effort had nothing to do with making some determination of whether or not there was fraud to reverse the outcome of the election and only to do with 2024 and the presidential primary,” said Jerry Patterson, a Republican former state land commissioner who is open about his unhappiness with Trump, but conceded that he’s voted for Cruz in past elections.

“That’s why I could never get back into politics anymore. I’m sick and tired of the bullshit. And that’s what it was,” he said.

The episode not only gave fodder to Cruz’s longtime intraparty detractors but also fellow Republicans.

“You have some senators who, for political advantage, were giving false hope to their supporters [and] misleading them to believe somehow yesterday’s actions in Congress could reverse the results of the election,” U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas who is also seen as a possible 2024 contender, said in a TV appearance on Fox without directly naming Cruz. “That was never going to happen yet these senators, as insurrectionists literally stormed the Capitol, were sending out fundraising emails.”

U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, the GOP’s 2012 nominee for president, raised similar frustrations on the Senate floor Wednesday night, without mentioning Cruz or other objectors by name

“I ask my colleagues: Do we weigh our own political fortunes more heavily than we weigh the strength of our Republic, the strength of our democracy and the cause of freedom? What is the weight of personal acclaim compared to the weight of conscience?”

To be clear, Cruz received backup from his own party. While his initial coalition did not hold, he was still joined by several colleagues in objecting to the certification of the results in Arizona and Pennsylvania. Dozens of House members, including many Texans, also objected in both cases.

The state’s senior senator, John Cornyn, split decisively from Cruz, announcing he would not object in a lengthy letter to Texans on Tuesday, specifically pooh-poohing Cruz’s emergency audit proposal. That contrast in particular heartened some Cruz supporters.

“Ted Cruz will be a stronger force in the Texas GOP than John Cornyn because of the way he has handled the last 30 days and because he doesn’t answer to the same political elite that Cornyn does,” said Luke Macias, a consultant for some of the Texas Legislature’s farthest-right members. “Democrats’ insane calls for Cruz to step down have only made him politically stronger.”

Democrats, meanwhile, were apoplectic over his role. Two of the state’s best-known Democrats, Joaquin and Julián Castro, called on Cruz to resign, as did the state Democratic Party. Cruz’s old nemesis Beto O’Rourke emailed supporters calling for “accountability and consequence” against the Texas senator, who defeated O’Rourke in a Senate race in 2018.

“Sen. Cruz, you must accept responsibility for how your craven, self-serving actions contributed to the deaths of four people yesterday. And how you fundraised off this riot,” tweeted U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York. “Both you and Senator Hawley must resign. If you do not, the Senate should move for your expulsion.”

In Cruz’s Houston hometown, activists lined the streets on Thursday, calling for his resignation while standing outside of a downtown skyscraper that houses one of Cruz’s offices.

But to detractors asking him to leave Congress, Cruz responded curtly Thursday afternoon, “Sorry, I ain’t going anywhere.”

While Cruz himself doesn’t appear to have any regrets for his role in inciting an insurrection — on Thursday he said he would do it all over again if he had to — his colleagues might not easily forgive under a new presidential administration.

Patterson, for one, thinks Cruz’s future political prospects hinge on where Republicans go in the next four years — and whether they remain loyal to Trump.

“There was a reset yesterday of politics in America — at least I hope and pray there was,” Patterson said.

Disclosure: The University of Houston has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.


US breaks single-day record for COVID-19 deaths 
on day mob storms US Capitol

By Lisa Marie Pane
January 8, 2021 — 2

The US registered more COVID-19 deaths in a single day than ever before – nearly 3900 – on the very day the mob attack on the Capitol laid bare some of the same, deep political divisions that have hampered the battle against the pandemic.

The virus is surging in virtually every state, with California particularly hard hit. Skyrocketing deaths and infections there are threatening to force hospitals to ration care and essentially decide who lives and who dies.

Medical workers prepare to move a COVID-19 patient at a hospital in Los Angeles.CREDIT:AP


“Folks are gasping for breath. Folks look like they’re drowning when they are in bed right in front of us,” said Dr Jeffrey Chien, an emergency room physician at Santa Clara Valley Regional Medical Centre, urging people to do their part to help slow the spread.

“I’m begging everyone to help us out because we aren’t the front line. We’re the last line.”
Advertisement

About 1.9 million people around the world have died of the coronavirus, more than 360,000 in the US alone.

December was by far the nation's deadliest month yet, and health experts are warning that January could be more terrible still because of family gatherings and travel over the holidays.

A new, more contagious variant of the virus is taking hold around the globe and in the US. Also, it remains to be seen what effect the thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump who converged this week in Washington, many of them maskless, will have on the spread of the scourge.

Trump has long downplayed the virus and scorned masks, and many of his ardent supporters have followed his example. He has also raged against lockdowns and egged on protesters objecting to restrictions in states such as Michigan, where armed supporters invaded the statehouse earlier this year.

On Wednesday, the day a horde of protesters breached the US Capitol, disrupting efforts to certify the election of Joe Biden, the US recorded 3865 virus deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. The numbers can fluctuate dramatically after holidays and weekends, and the figure is subject to revision.

The same day, California reported its second-highest number of daily coronavirus deaths, with 459. The state also registered more than a quarter of a million new weekly cases.

Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous with 10 million residents, and nearly two dozen other counties have essentially run out of intensive care unit beds for COVID-19 patients.

“This is a health crisis of epic proportions,” said Barbara Ferrer, public health director for Los Angeles County.

Trump supporters who died during Capitol riot left online presence

"Load your guns and take to the streets!" wrote Kevin Greeson, 55, of Athens, Alabama
.
Benjamin Phillips, Rosanne Boyland and Kevin Greeson.via NBC News

Jan. 7, 2021
By Ben Kesslen

A computer programmer who founded a social media website for supporters of President Donald Trump and an Alabama man who posted online “Load your guns and take to the streets!” were among the four who died when a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Another victim was Ashli Babbitt, 35, who was fatally shot by Capitol Police during the Wednesday incursion by rioters who demanded Congress reject the presidential election results. An ardent Trump supporter, Babbitt followed and promoted many well-known radical conservative activists and conspiracy theories.

The others, Kevin Greeson, 55, of Athens, Alabama; Benjamin Philips, 50, of Ringtown, Pennsylvania; and Rosanne Boyland, 34, of Kennesaw, Georgia, died of medical emergencies, Washington, D.C., police said Thursday.

Greeson had a history of high blood pressure and suffered a heart attack, his family said, and is survived by his wife, Kristi, and children.

“Kevin was an advocate of President Trump and attended the event on January 6, 2020 to show his support,” the family said in a statement. “He was not there to participate in violence or rioting, nor did he condone such actions.”

Greeson appeared to be active on Parler, the “Twitter for conservatives,” where an account with his name and picture lodged threats against Democrat and Republican politicians who Greeson said did not sufficiently support Trump.

Responding to a post that floated the “militia option” to keep Trump in office, Greeson wrote, “I’m in.. call me I have guns and ammo!” He interacted with posts from the far-right Proud Boys, telling them to give Antifa “hell.”

Greeson also said he hoped House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would get Covid-19 and die, and on Dec. 17 wrote, “Let’s take this f------ Country BACK!! Load your guns and take to the streets!”
Recommended


U.S. NEWSTrump supporters leave D.C. dejected, paranoid and with new theories about riots


U.S. NEWSAfter majority of Capitol mob walks free, feds struggle to identify suspects dispersed across the country

Kristi Greeson would not confirm whether the account belonged to her husband, but photos he posted on Parler are images of the same person found on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, which were verified by NBC News.

Philips, 50, died of a stroke, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, but NBC News was unable to verify his cause of death. The computer programmer founded a social media site for Trump supporters, Trumparoo.com, the Inquirer reported. The site coordinated rides to Washington for people who wanted to attend the protest.

“As my children are grieving and processing yesterday’s shocking events, I respectfully request privacy,” Nicole Mun, Philip’s ex-wife, said Thursday in a statement.

Mun said she no longer had a relationship with Philip and had nothing further to say. Other family members did not return repeated requests for comment.

Boyland also died because of a medical emergency, authorities said, providing no further details First responders performed CPR on her around 5 p.m. Wednesday after she collapsed, reported NBC Atlanta affiliate WXIA. Her family did not return phone calls and emails seeking more information.


Ashli Babbit: the woman shot at US Capitol building, was she a Trump supporter - and what she said on Twitter

Three other Trump supporting rioters died of ‘medical emergencies’ as chaos engulfed the US Capitol building


By Alex Nelson
Thursday, 7th January 2021, 

The US Capitol building in Washington DC was overwhelmed by mobs of President Trump supporters as Congress met on Wednesday (6 January) to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential win.

One woman was shot dead by police and three others died of "medical emergencies", as rioters clashed with police and tear gas was dispersed as demonstrators strong-armed their way into the building – both chambers of Congress were forced into an abrupt recess.

The violence came after a rally held near the White House at which Mr Trump encouraged supporters to march on Capitol Hill in protest against Congress' approval of Mr Biden's victory in the November election.
US Capitol Police detain protesters outside of the House Chamber (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Read MoreUS Capitol siege: Four people dead after pro-Donald Trump supporters storm the C...


Here is everything you need to know.

What happened?


On 6 January, President Donald Trump addressed supporters at a rally near the White House, promising to “never concede” that he had lost as Congress met to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential win.
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they try to storm the US Capitol Building in Washington DC on 6 January 2021 (Photo: JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images) 




Following the rally, Trump supporters breached barricades and fought past police to storm into the US Capitol building, forcing Congress to halt the voter certification process.

Federal agents were sent to the Capitol, with officers from the Federal Protective Service and US Secret Service also on hand to assist US Capitol Police.

The White House said National Guard troops had headed to the Capitol, as law enforcement officials said at least one explosive device was found near the scene, confirming it was “no longer a threat”.

Addressing the nation, Mr Biden said that democracy was “under an unprecedented assault”, and demanded that President Trump make a televised address calling on his supporters to cease the violence.

In a video posted on Twitter, President Trump asked his supporters to “go home”, claiming the results of the election were fraudulent and he feels their “pain”.

The tweet was later removed, and both Twitter and Facebook have temporarily locked Trump’s accounts.


What's the scene now?

After nearly four-hours, heavily-armed police ended the violent occupation as officials declared the Capitol complex “secure”.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress would resume the Electoral College proceedings when it was safe; Congress has since reconvened, and has certified Joe Biden's election win.

Donald Trump has also released a statement promising an orderly transition of power, though he still refuses to concede the election, continuing his unsubstantiated claims that the process was “stolen” from him.


Who was Ashli Babbit?

The woman who was shot and killed during skirmish has been identified as Ashli Babbit, according to local news reports.

Fox 5 DC first identified Babbit, and said the 14-year US Air Force veteran from San Diego was struck by a bullet after she entered the Capitol building’s legislative complex with rioters.

She was later pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital in critical condition.

Robert Contee, Washington DC’s Chief of Police, later confirmed that a woman was shot by a Capitol police officer, and an internal investigation is now underway.

“I really don’t know why she decided to do this,” her mother-in-law told Fox 5, as Babbit’s husband – who did not travel with his wife to DC – called her “a patriot and strong supporter of Donald Trump.”

Just hours before the violence, Babbit tweeted: “Nothing will stop us… they can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours… dark to light!”


Capitol Police officer on life support after pro-Trump riot, 
union official says

"He had a stroke. He's on life support from what I'm hearing," 

By Kristin Wilson, Evan Perez, David Brooks and Paul LeBlanc, CNN
Thu January 7, 2021

Supporters of President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. 
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

(CNN)A Capitol Police officer is on life support Thursday night after a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the US Capitol a day before, according to Capitol Police union chair Gus Papathanasiou.

CNN reported Thursday evening, citing three sources, that the officer had died. One of CNN's sources said that Capitol Police officers were gathered and told that the officer had passed away.

Papathanasiou told WUSA -- a local Washington, DC, television news station -- that the officer died. Later Thursday, the Capitol Police released a statement stating no officers had died as a result of Wednesday's riot.

Papathanasiou retracted his statement to WUSA and told CNN the officer was still on life support.

"He had a stroke. I think he's on life support. We've got some misinformation on that. He's on life support from what I'm hearing," Papathanasiou told CNN.

One woman was shot and killed by Capitol Police as the crowd breached the building and three others suffered medical emergencies that proved fatal.

Shortly after 1 p.m. ET Wednesday hundreds of pro-Trump protesters pushed through barriers set up along the perimeter of the Capitol, where they tussled with officers in full riot gear, some calling the officers "traitors" for doing their jobs.

About 90 minutes later, police said demonstrators got into the building and the doors to the House and Senate were being locked. Shortly after, the House floor was evacuated by police. Vice President Mike Pence was also evacuated from the chamber, where he was to perform his role in the counting of electoral votes.

An armed standoff took place at the House front door at about 3 p.m. ET, and police officers had their guns drawn at someone who was trying to breach it.

As a result of the episode, US Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund is resigning. He said in a statement earlier Thursday that Capitol Police and other law enforcement officers were "actively attacked" with metal pipes and other weapons.

"They were determined to enter into the Capitol Building by causing great damage," Sund said.

"The violent attack on the U.S. Capitol was unlike any I have ever experienced in my 30 years in law enforcement here in Washington, D.C.," he added. "Maintaining public safety in an open environment -- specifically for First Amendment activities -- has long been a challenge."

Still, lawmakers say they are perplexed at the lack of preparedness among law enforcement given that it had been known for weeks that Trump was promoting a rally he said was aimed at preventing the certification of Biden's win.

Rep. Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat who was locked in the House chamber during an armed standoff between Capitol Police and a rioter, praised the officers who were in the building that put their lives on the line, but made clear that they were outnumbered and law enforcement was under prepared.

"The Capitol Police I was around did an amazing job under difficult circumstances," Quigley told CNN. "My concern wasn't with how valiant the Capitol Police were. It was that an hour before the debate started, I looked at the throngs of people surrounding different sections of the Capitol and said, we don't have enough security."

Quigley added: "I'm no expert in security, but you can tell we were out-manned in an hour before the debate," referring to Congress' proceedings to certify Biden's win.

CORRECTION: This story and its headline have been corrected to reflect that the officer is on life support. This story is breaking and will be updated.

CNN's Manu Raju and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.