Internal probe clears Capitol Police officer who killed Ashli Babbitt during insurrection
23 August 2021
The Capitol Police officer who killed Ashli Babbitt during the Capitol insurrection has been cleared of any wrongdoing, the department announced Monday.
Why it matters: Babbitt, an Air Force veteran from California, was among a mob of rioters who used a flagpole against the barricaded doors. The officer shot Babbitt as she attempted to force her way through a broken window into the Speaker's Lobby just off the House chamber floor.
- The officer was placed on administrative leave within days.
Driving the news: An internal investigation found that the officer followed department policy, which allows use of deadly force only when an officer reasonably expects serious physical harm to themselves or others.
- USCP is withholding the officer's name because he and his 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. He will not face internal discipline.
The big picture: Former President Trump has denigrated the officer and lauded Babbitt as a so-called martyr since Jan. 6.
- Federal prosecutors said there was "insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution" earlier in the year.
- Babbitt's family has sued Washington D.C. for records revealing the identity of the officer who shot her.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.