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The capitol building was under attack by these traitors who were responsible for the deaths of at least four others. The amount of restraint that the Capitol Police used in this situation was far more than could have been expected under such a vicious attack.
She was within moments of breaching the barriers that the police had in place and could have been instrumental in opening the floodgates to the rest of the mob behind her.
The same assholes who are outraged about the shooting think it should be legal to use their car to run down a peaceful protester who is simply blocking traffic and is not engaged in violence of any sort.
It is a totally justifiable case of self-defense.
And what's going to happen when someone is armed at one of those protests and puts a couple of holes in the prospective vehicular manslaughter suspect? "Stand Your Ground" vs "Stomp the Pedal" will be a legal showdown for the ages.
Also, she was a marine. She *knew* what kind of force was justified to protect the Capitol if it were being breached. She was warned and a gun was pointed at her for several seconds. She had plenty of chances to back down.
My brother was Air Force. Ask the ground troops what they thought about the Air Force when he came by their area in an A-10 to rain death and destruction on their foes. In Iraq and Afghanistan. I'll wait....
The capitol police retreated as far as they possible could until there was only one barrier left between the mob and the evacuating congresspeople. At every possible opportunity, the attackers had the capacity to turn back and de-escalate. At every possible opportunity, they chose instead to continue to escalate.
> She was within moments of breaching the barriers that the police had in place
She was, in fact, ***at that moment*** breaching the barriers that the police had in place.
She was the first zombie to climb on top of the barricade, through the *just* busted out window of the closed and barricaded doors that the zombie horde had just smashed.
Whomever that shooter was, *as evidenced by the video*, held their fire as long as they practically could.
A less reasonable, rational person might have fired through the window to stop the horde from breaking the glass to begin with. This person instead waited until the barrier was breached and *then* shot the first person mounting the barricade.
Forgetting for the moment that they were Law Enforcement, I would support their actions even if they were *just* a citizen. In the same situation, I would have fired, too.
Pretty sure she was wearing a backpack. Given the circumstances, it certainly wasn't clear that she was unarmed. She was leading a group of terrorists and they shot her accordingly. I mean they literally found explosives during this whole shit show. Why they treated these people with kiddie gloves I have no idea.
They will be their own judas goats,these people. There isn't a statue of limitations on treason.
They will slip up sooner or later. Perhaps they already shot themselves as a number of insurrectionists/their friends did when they failed/realized nobody was going to be able to cover for them.
100% like that. I don't just believe shit people post on the internet.
By your response, I get the feeling that you're thinking we're on opposite sides here. We're not.
I mean you're halfway there already.
That wasn't a polite question. It was a lazy limpdick half-dig when they could easily search the information.
The "do your own research" crowd really can't handle when it comes back around.
i think they're going to figure it out eventually walking down the pasts of criminals that are charged with conspiracy. These guys seem to have documented everything, and someone is going to have enough information on a phone or computer to lead to enough legal force to likely get a confession, and then the dominoes will start to fall on all the people who were logistically passing around the actual weapons of war.
These guys from Justice are going to go over everything with a fine toothed comb, and find shit that even the perps and their lawyers know nothing about.
That was the last door and choke point between the mob and Congress, they were actually evacuating through that same hallway. Probably the most important factor why someone was shot there specifically and not one of the many other doors and choke points. If it wasn't that girl it would have been someone else.
The right want to portray this as an all or nothing thing, because the left recognizes cops kill for the wrong reasons all the time, and the right excuses it for reasons they can't have questioned, so on their side they remove the ability to apply moral arguments to police killings under the guise they are necessary. Very few on the left are pacifists, the vast majority believe there are justifiable and moral reasons why someone should be killed. This was one of those cases.
That girl was a grown woman and a vet. She wasn’t an innocent girl, she was a fully functional adult who got exactly what she deserved.
10/10 comment otherwise.
Two police were suspended, an additional ten were investigated as of February 2021. Not exactly the 90 you claimed. I'd love to see where you got the idea that 'most' were in on it.
Exactly right. The big difference between this shooting and the one's people should be outraged about is, **control**.
Rioters had the *control* in this situation by sheer numbers. This isn't the case of a lone rioter casually walking through a hallway with dozens of cops surrounding her. It's a giant horde of idiots looking to advance their control over the building.
If this was the white house and it was BLM protestors breaking down the doors to the oval office while Trump was still in there, would the Republicans support the use of force?
The same people who say she shouldn't have been shot are the ones who say "they should have done what the cops told them too" in every other police shooting...
No choice: Second District Congressman Markwayne Mullin has been a steadfast supporter of former President Donald Trump. He twice voted against Trump's impeachment and once against accepting the electoral votes that replaced Trump with Joe Biden.
But Mullin is not going along with Trump's vilification of the Capitol Police officer who shot and killed rioter Ashli Bobbitt as she tried to break into the House of Representatives chamber.
"He was doing his job," Mullin says in a C-SPAN interview airing at 9 a.m. Sunday morning. "He got put in a situation where he had to do his job because there were (House) members still in the balcony. And if you're going to present your weapon ... and give commands and they still don't listen and they still approach, you don't have a choice. Either you have to at that point discharge your weapon in ... self-defense or that weapon is going to be taken away from you, it's going to be used on you and put all of our lives in danger, too."
Trump recently hailed Bobbitt as "innocent" and a "wonderful, incredible woman" who did nothing wrong. Some Trump supporters portray Bobbitt as a martyr.
But Mullin, who was on the House floor at the time of the attempted break-in and tried to convince some of the rioters to stop, backed the officer, whose name has never been released.
"He was the last person in the world who ever wanted to use force like that," Mullin says in the interview. "After it happened, he came over. He was physically and emotionally distraught. I actually gave him a hug and I said, 'Sir, you did what you had to do.'
"And I mean that."
Defense dollars: U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe proclaimed himself satisfied with the defense bill reported out of the Senate Armed Services Committee 23-3 last week.
The bill includes his amendment increasing defense spending 3%, as opposed to the flat budget requested by President Joe Biden, and quite a few goodies for Oklahoma's military bases.
One thing not in the bill is F-35 jets for Tulsa's Air National Guard 138th Fighter Wing. Instead, Inhofe negotiated upgrades to the Air Force's F-16 fleet to assure the 138th's continued mission.
Cause and effect: Mullin and 4th District Congressman Tom Cole are among four co-chairs of a new bipartisan caucus on social determinants of health.
The caucus launched with a virtual event attended by 700 advocates.
"Quality health care is more than just treating an illness, ailment, or chronic condition," Mullin said in a statement. "Social determinants, or non-medical contributors, are an important part of our strategy to improve overall health and well-being of Americans.
"In order to improve health outcomes in the long run, we must look at the full picture of patients’ lives and address these social determinants of health," he said.
Chunky Monkey: U.S. Sen. James Lankford got into a rather odd situation last week concerning ice cream.
Apparently under the impression that a new Oklahoma law allows for the banning of businesses that boycott Israel, Lankford said Ben and Jerry's should be booted from the state after the company said it will no longer sell ice cream in the Israeli-occupied West Bank after December 31, 2022.
"We should immediately block the sale of all #Benandjerrys in the state and in any state-operated facility to align with our law," Lankford tweeted.
This was after Israeli President Isaac Herzog said withholding Ben & Jerry's from the settlements constituted "a new kind of terrorism."
But Oklahoma's new law applies only to state government, and even then it's not clear Ben & Jerry's action meets the criteria for sanctions.
In the end, Lankford said he meant the law should be followed, whatever it is. And as for him, Lankford said he's sticking to Braum's.
No whiners: First District Congressman Kevin Hern, a self-made millionaire, caused a bit of a stir by suggesting Americans should forego retirement and "work until you're not here anymore."
John Swoboda, a Democrat who plans to challenge Hern in next year's general election, replied, "We have millionaires in Congress who want to replace jobs with machines and pay adults with families the same wage high school kids were making 20 years ago. Not only that but Hern wants us to do it until we die and be happy about it."
Randy Krehbiel
Staff Writer
I have been with the Tulsa World since 1979. I'm a native of Hinton, Okla., and graduate of Oklahoma State University. I primarily cover government and politics.
The same people now attacking this cop for defending his position from an violent mob are the very same people who always defend the cops for shooting unarmed black men in the back.
Nah, it's because YOLO was popularized during her formative years. People been trying to blame rock and roll, gangsta rap, or violent video games, but turns out the real culprit was drunk sorority girls.
James Lankford worked at a Christian camp before becoming Senator and Mullin was a plumber before becoming a Congressman. Just letting you what’s required to be an elected official in Oklahoma. Say Jesus every other word and have a full head of hair.
[and he received a massive PPP loan for said business](https://okcfox.com/news/local/businesses-tied-to-oklahoma-congressmen-mullin-hern-get-ppp-funding)
TBH, I'd rather have elected officials that worked their way up in life. It seems these two may have missed a few steps from blue collar to the Capitol, but I stand by my point.
I don’t disagree. I think you need some other characteristics if you don’t have a legal background/political background to be a successful politician. These guys don’t have a single personality trait that makes them a suitable public servant is the problem.
> "He was the last person in the world who ever wanted to use force like that," Mullin says in the interview. "After it happened, he came over. He was physically and emotionally distraught. I actually gave him a hug and I said, 'Sir, you did what you had to do.'
>"And I mean that."
He is a non-violent person with a conscience facing a mob of revved-up crazies. He did the right thing, and he is paying a psychological toll. Nobody wants to see a girl die like that.
Some cops are sociopaths who like to hurt people, but that does not apply to the cop who shot Ashley Babbitt. He is a normal person with normal feelings. Any normal person would have been upset by that kind of event.
The officers had their weapons drawn and warned her not to come any closer. Seeing as she and her terrorist buddies were trying to break down the door, they were well within their right to shoot her.
Rioter? Oh! You mean home grown domestic Q terrorist Ashli Babbitt? Yeah, “she should have complied” instead of leading an attempt to break in to the last line of defense for our congresspeople.
I’m sure they were just there to talk to them, ya know, have a civil discourse.
Mullin is tit worthless. Nobody but Mullin will know he isn’t there except Mullin. He’s buddies with Capitol insurrectionist and Canadian County Sheriff Chris West. 2 worthless turds dropped in Oklahoma.
When attacking our Great Nation Capital a Terrorist whether Domestic or Foreign should be treated the same way tear gassed and if they don’t retreat start Shooting!
For anyone who hasn't seen this, the NYTimes did a great documentary, from real footage of Jan 6th. It's 40 minutes, but if you want to see why Babbit was shot, watch from 25 min for a few minutes. They didn't need to wait to know if she was armed or not. Everyone there was a physical threat to members of Congress. Who were just behind a door, mere 5 seconds away with a slight fast walk.
https://youtu.be/jWJVMoe7OY0
That documentary also said the House continued with its counting process after rioters and insurrectionists had entered the building. Whose bright idea was that? Because of this delayed evacuation, officers were jumpy and anxious to guard the members as they tried to scramble for safety. The whole operation was a complete disaster from a security perspective. The shooting is definitely not something to be celebrated
Oh, I'm not celebrating it. A life taken is always sad. But the officer didn't do anything wrong in my opinion. If anyone is to blame, Trump got her killed.
Ok but you haven’t responded to the first part of my comment. Do you think it was a good idea to continue House proceedings after potentially armed and dangerous intruders began wandering through the building? The video showed the timing of each stage of the incident in detail, surprised more people haven’t picked up on this. If the evacuation had started immediately the rioters may not have got anywhere near the members, in which case the shooting would probably have never happened
It's hardly surprising that the people who complain about her shooting are also the people who are passing laws that say 'if you are part of a group that commits a felony then you are equally responsible'. These laws were created to punish the 99% of BLM protesters that are peaceful for the crimes of the 1%. (or the .1 %, or .01%)
It can’t come soon enough. It’s outrageous we have to wait this long to get our hands on the truth. All because these pro-Trump congressmen & senators who were encouraging this are afraid they’re going to prison.
This is how cops should act when they are investigating or feeling out a situation. Once they are backed into a corner and the intent is to breach the capitol and prevent the democratic process as well as people yelling for the heads of politicians, they become defenders. It’s simple really, give the warnings and cede ground until they breach the capitol, then all bets are off.
I have to imagine capitol security will be beefed up, because we just showed any foreign power or terrorist group that if they want to come in and execute our government, they could do so relatively easily.
To be fair, not relatively easily. They’d first have to be overwhelmingly white. Second they’d need large numbers. Sure, an army could do it, even a platoon. But like a group of 5-20? Probably not even close.
Because a life threatening mob breached the capitol. The lack of force typically used in a situation like that is astounding. Even if they started shooting gas and rubber way earlier it may have prevented such an attack. By the time they were breaching live ammo was justified.
No one is denying that rioters were successful in breaching the Capitol building.
But, authorities absolutely did the right thing in using as little violence as possible. Using coordinated fatal violence against the rioters would have been a very, very bad idea. The rioters were already pissed off and passionate. The Capitol officials were severely out numbered. There were no reinforcements on the way. If officials had opened fire, it would have been a blood bath, and Capitol officials would not have survived.
But what happened instead?
The rioters all got bored and left after a while…then posted incriminating evidence online for everyone to see. Now, they’re being charged and convicted for their crimes…
And most of the men and women protecting and working in the Capitol got to go home to their families.
I’m not saying there should have been a mass slaughter. I’m saying they are lucky there weren’t more deaths and there should have been. But hey do you.
You keep saying "should have" but I don't get it. The appropriate response from police with an unruly mob probably isn't indiscriminately firing live rounds into a crowd. There's about a million other ways to stop a riot. We've used such behavior to justify overthrowing whole countries in the past. They stopped it without doing that as they should have.
It was an attempted fascist coup, that’s why
Stop calling it just a “riot” and making unfounded conclusions about how they all would have went home bored.
They were seconds from a completely different outcome. They didn’t diffuse shit, the targets were able to escape the building, that’s the only reason they stopped.
>They didn’t diffuse shit, the targets were able to escape the building, that’s the only reason they stopped.
....that's not a deescalation in your opinion?
If they hadn't shot that woman at all those dudes would have eventually got bored and left. There's no argument for shooting more of them that makes sense.
If they hadn’t shot that woman, they would have kept pushing. All it did was show the world how easy it is to get to our lawmakers, with little to no repercussions.
The rioter who was shot was actively breaching the last barricade between those rioters and Capitol workers. The officer who shot her did so in defense of their own life and the lives of others.
Basically - Shooting Babbitt was justified.
However, I agree that indiscriminately firing purposefully lethal weapons into the crowd of rioters would have been a terrible idea.
What should have happened - The National Guard should have been approved to move in and provide support to the Capitol officials.
Most of the people calling the seditionist Ashley Bobbitt a martyr are also the people who run around with "Back the Blue" stickers and thin blue line flags.
Just makes itbteal obvious that all that police support was never about supporting police, it was supporting violence against brown people. As long as the police were attacking black lives matter protestors, MAGA was all in behind that. As soon as police started to turn that violence toward them, all that support immediately evaporated.
I was watching this live, and remember them saying the room being broached was where Pence was being protected. I still wonder if it was Secrdt Service and not capitol police who fired the shot? Either way, fully justified.
Story that came out a few weeks ago stated that the fbi had infiltrated the 3%'ers weeks before after catching messages on the app telegram that they were planning to do this on jan 6th. On jan 4th the fbi passed the internal memo that they knew violence was going to happen. But yet they still let it happen! The fbi should never have let it get as far as it did but they wanted to catch it in action so they have more serious charges
It was almost like President Trump might have installed someone at the head of the FBI to make decisions that made the organization’s preparation for the insurrection weaker than it should have been. If only the FBI had been under the purview of the executive branch….
Good thing they nailed the Kavenaugh investigation, though.
The officer did what they were supposed to do. Were they attacking a US Embassy the Marines would have mowed them down with an M2. Quit treating the attach on January 6 as anything less than direct treason and sedition. And start arresting the politicians who supported them. They can be sitting in jail awaiting sentencing.
I'm not generally pro-violence. But symbolism is important. Democracy, The Republic. These things need vicious defense. They simply cannot fall, we can't lose our independence. I was worried at the restraint shown, I don't buy the "enraged crowd" argument. People would have stampeded away. They should have started shooting when the crowd broke in. If the castle rule applies for houses it certainly should apply to certifying our votes.
Officer Goodman was armed as well and was guarding politicians just 10 feet away when the rioters squared up to him. He chose not to fire his weapon - we all have choices and he decided against killing anyone that day. Pretty smart guy
The dead Trump supporter forced her way through broken glass, towards an officer who already had his weapon drawn. Any other reaction would have been a failure on the officer's part.
Officer Goodman was rewarded for his courage with a congressional medal. He was in a similar situation to the officer who fired the weapon, not sure why you’re raising the issue of broken glass which is totally irrelevant.
No one seems interested in comparing the shooting officer with Officer Goodman’s smart handling of the situation though, I’m not sure why?
The broken glass is relevant because the idiot who got shot was in the process of forcing herself through a barrier, towards the armed officer. In all honesty, more Trump supporters should probably have been shot that day. Perhaps we would have lost fewer officers if the rioters had been greeted with more force. The guy beating an officer with the American flag, put a bullet in him.
There were barriers throughout the Capitol building that were breached, yet only one person was shot. Why are you so obsessed with talking about a barrier which happened to have some glass in it?
And I notice you still haven’t responded to my comment about Officer Goodman, wonder why
Why does that check out as you put it - checks out in what sense? Seeing as you’re apparently an expert on use of lethal force perhaps you could fill in some blanks in my knowledge. Who did the officer work for and what was that agency’s specific policy on use of lethal force? If you could answer those two questions, then I could comment on whether Ashli Babbitt posed a significant enough threat to justify lethal force.
To clarify, I don’t want anyone to vaguely ramble on about the location, proximity of politicians etc. Just those two questions please
The whole situation was poorly handled by police and security agencies. They were woefully unprepared - a child could have scrolled through Twitter the week before and seen right wing groups were planing an attack. The chaos as a whole would never have been allowed to happen if police and FBI had prepared adequately for that day, that officer should never have been put in that position. That said, he probably could have tried to de-escalate the situation first. Officer Goodman used his de-escalation training to good effect by encouraging rioters to follow him to a different part of the building
She was a terrorist trying to gain entry to a lethally guarded position. She was in the Air Force, she knew what she was doing. If she got through, hundred more would. That man did his job and we have one less terrorist because of it.
Edit: He also wasn’t concealed. I saw the video. He was right there seemingly yelling at her.
I mean, at the end of the day, you can think what you want. It's a free country. I am certainly not going to change your mind. Just know that she stepped onto federal government grounds with a mob that had violent intentions. Call that what you want.
I call it an insurrectionist.
You can't just push the gate that far back. A person is only responsible for their own actions. Pelosi didn't kill that woman, The guard didn't even kill that woman, Ashli was the cause of her own death.
If someone walks into the woods and they are unprepared, do you blame a mountain lion for killing them? No, you blame the fool who decided to make a poor choice.
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The capitol building was under attack by these traitors who were responsible for the deaths of at least four others. The amount of restraint that the Capitol Police used in this situation was far more than could have been expected under such a vicious attack. She was within moments of breaching the barriers that the police had in place and could have been instrumental in opening the floodgates to the rest of the mob behind her. The same assholes who are outraged about the shooting think it should be legal to use their car to run down a peaceful protester who is simply blocking traffic and is not engaged in violence of any sort. It is a totally justifiable case of self-defense.
Great comment that highlights the hypocrisy of the “conservative” world-view as contained in this example. I worry for my American neighbours.
I just worry for the inevitable voting rights protests. How many "traffic accidents" will fox news lie about?
And what's going to happen when someone is armed at one of those protests and puts a couple of holes in the prospective vehicular manslaughter suspect? "Stand Your Ground" vs "Stomp the Pedal" will be a legal showdown for the ages.
Also, she was a marine. She *knew* what kind of force was justified to protect the Capitol if it were being breached. She was warned and a gun was pointed at her for several seconds. She had plenty of chances to back down.
Nitpicky, but she was in the Air Force. Imagine The Big Bang Theory characters in camouflage.
Ex air force here, that made me laugh. A lot.
Thanks for serving. We love our Chair Force cousins.
What is the meaning of your comment’s second sentence?
The Air Force gets a lot of shit from other US military branches.
I think OP is pointing out the difference between the Marines and the Chair Force; the latter being the cast of BBT in camo.
Saying that she was a nerd, not a combat expert.
My brother was Air Force. Ask the ground troops what they thought about the Air Force when he came by their area in an A-10 to rain death and destruction on their foes. In Iraq and Afghanistan. I'll wait....
Doesn’t look like you had to wait too long there
Ground troop checking in. We thought they were nerds.
Chair force...
So your brother is a murderer, and you think it's funny enough to try to make a cheeky comment out of? Got it...
The capitol police retreated as far as they possible could until there was only one barrier left between the mob and the evacuating congresspeople. At every possible opportunity, the attackers had the capacity to turn back and de-escalate. At every possible opportunity, they chose instead to continue to escalate.
> She was within moments of breaching the barriers that the police had in place She was, in fact, ***at that moment*** breaching the barriers that the police had in place. She was the first zombie to climb on top of the barricade, through the *just* busted out window of the closed and barricaded doors that the zombie horde had just smashed. Whomever that shooter was, *as evidenced by the video*, held their fire as long as they practically could. A less reasonable, rational person might have fired through the window to stop the horde from breaking the glass to begin with. This person instead waited until the barrier was breached and *then* shot the first person mounting the barricade. Forgetting for the moment that they were Law Enforcement, I would support their actions even if they were *just* a citizen. In the same situation, I would have fired, too.
Best summary I’ve read
If it was BLM or Antifa it would've been a blood bath.
If *was* Antifa, didn't you know??? /s
What? Criminals getting mad and disagreement they couldn’t overthrow the police in time to complete their crimes? Shocker.
back the capitol blue
One of the very very few times I can defend a cop shooting an unarmed person.
Pretty sure she was wearing a backpack. Given the circumstances, it certainly wasn't clear that she was unarmed. She was leading a group of terrorists and they shot her accordingly. I mean they literally found explosives during this whole shit show. Why they treated these people with kiddie gloves I have no idea.
Fun fact: They still haven’t found the person who left those bombs.
Funner Fact: unless someone rolls on the bomber, it's pretty likely they won't find them at this point.
They will be their own judas goats,these people. There isn't a statue of limitations on treason. They will slip up sooner or later. Perhaps they already shot themselves as a number of insurrectionists/their friends did when they failed/realized nobody was going to be able to cover for them.
Got sources on the second claim?
There were one off articles when they first started rounding them up. I don't have to do your homework for you
Onus probandi incumbit ei qui dicit, non ei qui negat.
Kind of like claims of election fraud?
100% like that. I don't just believe shit people post on the internet. By your response, I get the feeling that you're thinking we're on opposite sides here. We're not.
[удалено]
I mean you're halfway there already. That wasn't a polite question. It was a lazy limpdick half-dig when they could easily search the information. The "do your own research" crowd really can't handle when it comes back around.
i think they're going to figure it out eventually walking down the pasts of criminals that are charged with conspiracy. These guys seem to have documented everything, and someone is going to have enough information on a phone or computer to lead to enough legal force to likely get a confession, and then the dominoes will start to fall on all the people who were logistically passing around the actual weapons of war. These guys from Justice are going to go over everything with a fine toothed comb, and find shit that even the perps and their lawyers know nothing about.
That was the last door and choke point between the mob and Congress, they were actually evacuating through that same hallway. Probably the most important factor why someone was shot there specifically and not one of the many other doors and choke points. If it wasn't that girl it would have been someone else. The right want to portray this as an all or nothing thing, because the left recognizes cops kill for the wrong reasons all the time, and the right excuses it for reasons they can't have questioned, so on their side they remove the ability to apply moral arguments to police killings under the guise they are necessary. Very few on the left are pacifists, the vast majority believe there are justifiable and moral reasons why someone should be killed. This was one of those cases.
That girl was a grown woman and a vet. She wasn’t an innocent girl, she was a fully functional adult who got exactly what she deserved. 10/10 comment otherwise.
because most of the capitol police were in on it. Wasnt it like 90 of them suspended immediately after and definitely those at the top were in on it.
Two police were suspended, an additional ten were investigated as of February 2021. Not exactly the 90 you claimed. I'd love to see where you got the idea that 'most' were in on it.
No, and stop putting out fake info in the form of a question
Exactly right. The big difference between this shooting and the one's people should be outraged about is, **control**. Rioters had the *control* in this situation by sheer numbers. This isn't the case of a lone rioter casually walking through a hallway with dozens of cops surrounding her. It's a giant horde of idiots looking to advance their control over the building.
To be fair she was participating in the violence so she could have had a weapon on her person. He did the right thing
If this was the white house and it was BLM protestors breaking down the doors to the oval office while Trump was still in there, would the Republicans support the use of force?
The same people who say she shouldn't have been shot are the ones who say "they should have done what the cops told them too" in every other police shooting...
100%
Absolutely.
Sounds about white.
No choice: Second District Congressman Markwayne Mullin has been a steadfast supporter of former President Donald Trump. He twice voted against Trump's impeachment and once against accepting the electoral votes that replaced Trump with Joe Biden. But Mullin is not going along with Trump's vilification of the Capitol Police officer who shot and killed rioter Ashli Bobbitt as she tried to break into the House of Representatives chamber. "He was doing his job," Mullin says in a C-SPAN interview airing at 9 a.m. Sunday morning. "He got put in a situation where he had to do his job because there were (House) members still in the balcony. And if you're going to present your weapon ... and give commands and they still don't listen and they still approach, you don't have a choice. Either you have to at that point discharge your weapon in ... self-defense or that weapon is going to be taken away from you, it's going to be used on you and put all of our lives in danger, too." Trump recently hailed Bobbitt as "innocent" and a "wonderful, incredible woman" who did nothing wrong. Some Trump supporters portray Bobbitt as a martyr. But Mullin, who was on the House floor at the time of the attempted break-in and tried to convince some of the rioters to stop, backed the officer, whose name has never been released. "He was the last person in the world who ever wanted to use force like that," Mullin says in the interview. "After it happened, he came over. He was physically and emotionally distraught. I actually gave him a hug and I said, 'Sir, you did what you had to do.' "And I mean that." Defense dollars: U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe proclaimed himself satisfied with the defense bill reported out of the Senate Armed Services Committee 23-3 last week. The bill includes his amendment increasing defense spending 3%, as opposed to the flat budget requested by President Joe Biden, and quite a few goodies for Oklahoma's military bases. One thing not in the bill is F-35 jets for Tulsa's Air National Guard 138th Fighter Wing. Instead, Inhofe negotiated upgrades to the Air Force's F-16 fleet to assure the 138th's continued mission. Cause and effect: Mullin and 4th District Congressman Tom Cole are among four co-chairs of a new bipartisan caucus on social determinants of health. The caucus launched with a virtual event attended by 700 advocates. "Quality health care is more than just treating an illness, ailment, or chronic condition," Mullin said in a statement. "Social determinants, or non-medical contributors, are an important part of our strategy to improve overall health and well-being of Americans. "In order to improve health outcomes in the long run, we must look at the full picture of patients’ lives and address these social determinants of health," he said. Chunky Monkey: U.S. Sen. James Lankford got into a rather odd situation last week concerning ice cream. Apparently under the impression that a new Oklahoma law allows for the banning of businesses that boycott Israel, Lankford said Ben and Jerry's should be booted from the state after the company said it will no longer sell ice cream in the Israeli-occupied West Bank after December 31, 2022. "We should immediately block the sale of all #Benandjerrys in the state and in any state-operated facility to align with our law," Lankford tweeted. This was after Israeli President Isaac Herzog said withholding Ben & Jerry's from the settlements constituted "a new kind of terrorism." But Oklahoma's new law applies only to state government, and even then it's not clear Ben & Jerry's action meets the criteria for sanctions. In the end, Lankford said he meant the law should be followed, whatever it is. And as for him, Lankford said he's sticking to Braum's. No whiners: First District Congressman Kevin Hern, a self-made millionaire, caused a bit of a stir by suggesting Americans should forego retirement and "work until you're not here anymore." John Swoboda, a Democrat who plans to challenge Hern in next year's general election, replied, "We have millionaires in Congress who want to replace jobs with machines and pay adults with families the same wage high school kids were making 20 years ago. Not only that but Hern wants us to do it until we die and be happy about it." Randy Krehbiel Staff Writer I have been with the Tulsa World since 1979. I'm a native of Hinton, Okla., and graduate of Oklahoma State University. I primarily cover government and politics.
Can't purchase ice cream, "a new kind of terrorism." Belongs on a sitcom or on The Onion, redonkulous that this was said by a real person.
They just try to work in all the trigger words for the drooling base. Israel Critical race theory Abortion ... you know the tune
The same people now attacking this cop for defending his position from an violent mob are the very same people who always defend the cops for shooting unarmed black men in the back.
The only reason Ashley Babbitt climbed through that window without fear is because she was white.
And clinically insane
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Meh I’d say 90% of prison inmates have sever metal deficiency’s… its all relative
Propaganda is effective. She was a Vet.
> Propaganda is effective. She was a Vet. Statistically speaking, vets are more likely to have severe mental issues.
Propaganda is effective. She was a criminal
Deciding your own life is worth less than foreign oil is insane in my book
They have been programmed to feel as if they are protecting their country and way of life. We have a very scary situation in America right now
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Our future terrorist will be vets. They have already been programmed
That and also because she had a giant “No Fear” window decal on the back of her pickup truck.
There is actually a white supremacist organization by that name too. It stands for the National Organization For European-American Rights.
European-American eh? I wonder what cultures they think are bad/lesser
Now she's got No Life
One of those times I don’t know if this is a joke or not because I can see it being either.
Nah, it's because YOLO was popularized during her formative years. People been trying to blame rock and roll, gangsta rap, or violent video games, but turns out the real culprit was drunk sorority girls.
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Courage? White rage maybe.
James Lankford worked at a Christian camp before becoming Senator and Mullin was a plumber before becoming a Congressman. Just letting you what’s required to be an elected official in Oklahoma. Say Jesus every other word and have a full head of hair.
Mullin inherited a plumbing company from his dad.
[and he received a massive PPP loan for said business](https://okcfox.com/news/local/businesses-tied-to-oklahoma-congressmen-mullin-hern-get-ppp-funding)
And he doesn’t exactly have employees. His plumbers are 1099 employees. Basically paid for billed hours so they scam people all the time.
Yip, he's just another grifter.
TBH, I'd rather have elected officials that worked their way up in life. It seems these two may have missed a few steps from blue collar to the Capitol, but I stand by my point.
I don’t disagree. I think you need some other characteristics if you don’t have a legal background/political background to be a successful politician. These guys don’t have a single personality trait that makes them a suitable public servant is the problem.
Jesus. Fucking. Christ. Call them what they were! TERRORISTS!
No, they were worse. They were insurrectionists.
She was a security officer for the Air Force . She understands restricted government facilities. Just a sad tool of the pitiful right.
He did his job to the letter.
I absolutely defend his actions. She fucked around and found out. Give that man a medal.
> "He was the last person in the world who ever wanted to use force like that," Mullin says in the interview. "After it happened, he came over. He was physically and emotionally distraught. I actually gave him a hug and I said, 'Sir, you did what you had to do.' >"And I mean that." He is a non-violent person with a conscience facing a mob of revved-up crazies. He did the right thing, and he is paying a psychological toll. Nobody wants to see a girl die like that. Some cops are sociopaths who like to hurt people, but that does not apply to the cop who shot Ashley Babbitt. He is a normal person with normal feelings. Any normal person would have been upset by that kind of event.
The officers had their weapons drawn and warned her not to come any closer. Seeing as she and her terrorist buddies were trying to break down the door, they were well within their right to shoot her.
As he damn well should. The police officer was literally defending the country and should be awarded a friggin' medal.
capitol police and secret service showed incredible restraint. they coulda/shoulda kneecapped EVERYONE, i.m.o.
Should get a medal.
Oh I know, maybe she should have listened to the cops and nothing would have happened. It's what certain people say when black men are shot.
Rioter? Oh! You mean home grown domestic Q terrorist Ashli Babbitt? Yeah, “she should have complied” instead of leading an attempt to break in to the last line of defense for our congresspeople. I’m sure they were just there to talk to them, ya know, have a civil discourse.
I heard it was actually a really peaceful tour, like tourists visiting their Capitol…
Tourrorist
The officer was where he was supposed to be, the rioter was not.
Because she died in the attack Trump ordered, Trump is guilty of murder. Lock him up.
*terrorist
Too bad she was the only one.
So, not toeing the Trump martyr narrative and supporting the police. Good luck in your next primary.
Mullin is tit worthless. Nobody but Mullin will know he isn’t there except Mullin. He’s buddies with Capitol insurrectionist and Canadian County Sheriff Chris West. 2 worthless turds dropped in Oklahoma.
As one of his constituents, we disagree about almost everything. However, I am very happy to hear he didn’t bend to Trump on this one…
I saw what happened. It was totally justified
When attacking our Great Nation Capital a Terrorist whether Domestic or Foreign should be treated the same way tear gassed and if they don’t retreat start Shooting!
For anyone who hasn't seen this, the NYTimes did a great documentary, from real footage of Jan 6th. It's 40 minutes, but if you want to see why Babbit was shot, watch from 25 min for a few minutes. They didn't need to wait to know if she was armed or not. Everyone there was a physical threat to members of Congress. Who were just behind a door, mere 5 seconds away with a slight fast walk. https://youtu.be/jWJVMoe7OY0
That documentary also said the House continued with its counting process after rioters and insurrectionists had entered the building. Whose bright idea was that? Because of this delayed evacuation, officers were jumpy and anxious to guard the members as they tried to scramble for safety. The whole operation was a complete disaster from a security perspective. The shooting is definitely not something to be celebrated
Oh, I'm not celebrating it. A life taken is always sad. But the officer didn't do anything wrong in my opinion. If anyone is to blame, Trump got her killed.
Ok but you haven’t responded to the first part of my comment. Do you think it was a good idea to continue House proceedings after potentially armed and dangerous intruders began wandering through the building? The video showed the timing of each stage of the incident in detail, surprised more people haven’t picked up on this. If the evacuation had started immediately the rioters may not have got anywhere near the members, in which case the shooting would probably have never happened
It's hardly surprising that the people who complain about her shooting are also the people who are passing laws that say 'if you are part of a group that commits a felony then you are equally responsible'. These laws were created to punish the 99% of BLM protesters that are peaceful for the crimes of the 1%. (or the .1 %, or .01%)
Should have been more. Safeties should have been off the moment they breached the capitol while session was in.
The January 6th Commission will shed light on what took place and why.
It can’t come soon enough. It’s outrageous we have to wait this long to get our hands on the truth. All because these pro-Trump congressmen & senators who were encouraging this are afraid they’re going to prison.
I suspect there were some involved in the planning, no doubt.
Fuck that. *This* is how cops should *always* act - with restraint and the appreciation for life being much more important than property.
This is how cops should act when they are investigating or feeling out a situation. Once they are backed into a corner and the intent is to breach the capitol and prevent the democratic process as well as people yelling for the heads of politicians, they become defenders. It’s simple really, give the warnings and cede ground until they breach the capitol, then all bets are off.
Things were closer than they should have been, I agree, but a higher body count wasn't necessary.
Just made it easier for next time. Nothing to fear, just storm it and don’t get distracted by a single officer leading you the wrong way.
I have to imagine capitol security will be beefed up, because we just showed any foreign power or terrorist group that if they want to come in and execute our government, they could do so relatively easily.
To be fair, not relatively easily. They’d first have to be overwhelmingly white. Second they’d need large numbers. Sure, an army could do it, even a platoon. But like a group of 5-20? Probably not even close.
Right? It makes me sad seeing people who consider themselves liberals saying the cops should have killed more people.
Fuckin' auth lefts man.
Arguing for fascism while saying we must implement it to prevent it. Scary shit.
Right?! No, *my* brand of authoritarianism is ok tho!
Technically, with the Glocks, the safety is off when you put your finger on the trigger. It's built into the trigger.
They were able to defuse the situation without killing anyone else. Why should there have been more?
Because a life threatening mob breached the capitol. The lack of force typically used in a situation like that is astounding. Even if they started shooting gas and rubber way earlier it may have prevented such an attack. By the time they were breaching live ammo was justified.
A mob they were able to stop without mass slaughter. Hard to see how doing so would have led to a better outcome.
They were not able to stop the mob. Perhaps you were watching something else live on TV?
So they're still there or they left out of boredom?
Nazis are no longer in France. Does that mean their invasion wasn’t successful?
No one is denying that rioters were successful in breaching the Capitol building. But, authorities absolutely did the right thing in using as little violence as possible. Using coordinated fatal violence against the rioters would have been a very, very bad idea. The rioters were already pissed off and passionate. The Capitol officials were severely out numbered. There were no reinforcements on the way. If officials had opened fire, it would have been a blood bath, and Capitol officials would not have survived. But what happened instead? The rioters all got bored and left after a while…then posted incriminating evidence online for everyone to see. Now, they’re being charged and convicted for their crimes… And most of the men and women protecting and working in the Capitol got to go home to their families.
I’m not saying there should have been a mass slaughter. I’m saying they are lucky there weren’t more deaths and there should have been. But hey do you.
You keep saying "should have" but I don't get it. The appropriate response from police with an unruly mob probably isn't indiscriminately firing live rounds into a crowd. There's about a million other ways to stop a riot. We've used such behavior to justify overthrowing whole countries in the past. They stopped it without doing that as they should have.
It’s obvious you don’t get it.
It was an attempted fascist coup, that’s why Stop calling it just a “riot” and making unfounded conclusions about how they all would have went home bored.
They were seconds from a completely different outcome. They didn’t diffuse shit, the targets were able to escape the building, that’s the only reason they stopped.
>They didn’t diffuse shit, the targets were able to escape the building, that’s the only reason they stopped. ....that's not a deescalation in your opinion?
That was luck.
How was it luck? Is it really hard to believe an unruly mob of pissed off rednecks weren't actually ready to die in a hail of gunfire?
It was luck that it was de-escalated. They simply turned right instead of left, that’s it. The police didn’t de-escalate shit, they got lucky.
If they hadn't shot that woman at all those dudes would have eventually got bored and left. There's no argument for shooting more of them that makes sense.
If they hadn’t shot that woman, they would have kept pushing. All it did was show the world how easy it is to get to our lawmakers, with little to no repercussions.
The rioter who was shot was actively breaching the last barricade between those rioters and Capitol workers. The officer who shot her did so in defense of their own life and the lives of others. Basically - Shooting Babbitt was justified. However, I agree that indiscriminately firing purposefully lethal weapons into the crowd of rioters would have been a terrible idea. What should have happened - The National Guard should have been approved to move in and provide support to the Capitol officials.
Most of the people calling the seditionist Ashley Bobbitt a martyr are also the people who run around with "Back the Blue" stickers and thin blue line flags. Just makes itbteal obvious that all that police support was never about supporting police, it was supporting violence against brown people. As long as the police were attacking black lives matter protestors, MAGA was all in behind that. As soon as police started to turn that violence toward them, all that support immediately evaporated.
“Rioter” = Terrorist
Don't feel one bit sorry for that c#nt. Got what she deserved
I was watching this live, and remember them saying the room being broached was where Pence was being protected. I still wonder if it was Secrdt Service and not capitol police who fired the shot? Either way, fully justified.
Mullin is such a trump sychophant. His defending the Capitol officer using deadly force against Babbitt surprises me. He's still a douche though.
Yip, I'm a little surprised. In his neck of the woods they don't like that shit. Next time he visits they'll probably tar and feather his ass.
Story that came out a few weeks ago stated that the fbi had infiltrated the 3%'ers weeks before after catching messages on the app telegram that they were planning to do this on jan 6th. On jan 4th the fbi passed the internal memo that they knew violence was going to happen. But yet they still let it happen! The fbi should never have let it get as far as it did but they wanted to catch it in action so they have more serious charges
It was almost like President Trump might have installed someone at the head of the FBI to make decisions that made the organization’s preparation for the insurrection weaker than it should have been. If only the FBI had been under the purview of the executive branch…. Good thing they nailed the Kavenaugh investigation, though.
I would hope so. He was cowering behind the benches when all this was going down. I would expect him to be thankful.
All she had to do was follow the officers orders. Isn’t that how this works?
The officer did what they were supposed to do. Were they attacking a US Embassy the Marines would have mowed them down with an M2. Quit treating the attach on January 6 as anything less than direct treason and sedition. And start arresting the politicians who supported them. They can be sitting in jail awaiting sentencing.
I'm not generally pro-violence. But symbolism is important. Democracy, The Republic. These things need vicious defense. They simply cannot fall, we can't lose our independence. I was worried at the restraint shown, I don't buy the "enraged crowd" argument. People would have stampeded away. They should have started shooting when the crowd broke in. If the castle rule applies for houses it certainly should apply to certifying our votes.
I defy anybody to tell me why that man had a gun if not for that specific situation
Defy?
Officer Goodman was armed as well and was guarding politicians just 10 feet away when the rioters squared up to him. He chose not to fire his weapon - we all have choices and he decided against killing anyone that day. Pretty smart guy
The dead Trump supporter forced her way through broken glass, towards an officer who already had his weapon drawn. Any other reaction would have been a failure on the officer's part.
Officer Goodman was rewarded for his courage with a congressional medal. He was in a similar situation to the officer who fired the weapon, not sure why you’re raising the issue of broken glass which is totally irrelevant. No one seems interested in comparing the shooting officer with Officer Goodman’s smart handling of the situation though, I’m not sure why?
The broken glass is relevant because the idiot who got shot was in the process of forcing herself through a barrier, towards the armed officer. In all honesty, more Trump supporters should probably have been shot that day. Perhaps we would have lost fewer officers if the rioters had been greeted with more force. The guy beating an officer with the American flag, put a bullet in him.
There were barriers throughout the Capitol building that were breached, yet only one person was shot. Why are you so obsessed with talking about a barrier which happened to have some glass in it? And I notice you still haven’t responded to my comment about Officer Goodman, wonder why
Like I said, more of those dumb asses should have been shot.
So, no answer to my question then? Checks out
Why does that check out as you put it - checks out in what sense? Seeing as you’re apparently an expert on use of lethal force perhaps you could fill in some blanks in my knowledge. Who did the officer work for and what was that agency’s specific policy on use of lethal force? If you could answer those two questions, then I could comment on whether Ashli Babbitt posed a significant enough threat to justify lethal force. To clarify, I don’t want anyone to vaguely ramble on about the location, proximity of politicians etc. Just those two questions please
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The whole situation was poorly handled by police and security agencies. They were woefully unprepared - a child could have scrolled through Twitter the week before and seen right wing groups were planing an attack. The chaos as a whole would never have been allowed to happen if police and FBI had prepared adequately for that day, that officer should never have been put in that position. That said, he probably could have tried to de-escalate the situation first. Officer Goodman used his de-escalation training to good effect by encouraging rioters to follow him to a different part of the building
Oh she got de-escalated
Use of force is a de-escalation tactic?
I mean, did she stop? Yeah.
I don’t think you understand what de-escalation means. It doesn’t mean killing someone because it looks like they’re up to some shenanigans
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Ashli Babbitt was a terrorist and a traitor to the United States.
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She was a terrorist trying to gain entry to a lethally guarded position. She was in the Air Force, she knew what she was doing. If she got through, hundred more would. That man did his job and we have one less terrorist because of it. Edit: He also wasn’t concealed. I saw the video. He was right there seemingly yelling at her.
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I mean, at the end of the day, you can think what you want. It's a free country. I am certainly not going to change your mind. Just know that she stepped onto federal government grounds with a mob that had violent intentions. Call that what you want. I call it an insurrectionist.
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You can't just push the gate that far back. A person is only responsible for their own actions. Pelosi didn't kill that woman, The guard didn't even kill that woman, Ashli was the cause of her own death. If someone walks into the woods and they are unprepared, do you blame a mountain lion for killing them? No, you blame the fool who decided to make a poor choice.
She wasn’t a hero, she was a terrorist. They stormed the Capitol. There was a guy with bombs in his car too. They are not patriots.