Jonathan Turley: Statements By Capitol Police Officer Who Killed Ashli Babbitt ‘Demolish the Two Official Reviews That Cleared Him’

[Draggingtree]

Legal Insurrection

Jonathan Turley: Statements By Capitol Police Officer Who Killed Ashli Babbitt ‘Demolish the Two Official Reviews That Cleared Him’

“Under Byrd’s interpretation, hundreds of rioters could have been gunned down on Jan. 6.”

Posted by Stacey Matthews Sunday, August 29, 2021 at 06:30pm 69 Comments

Numerous aspects of what unfolded during the Capitol riot have been hotly debated in the months since it happened, but few have been as contentious and emotional as the debate over the officer-involved shooting death of Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt.

The 35-year-old Air Force veteran was shot and killed by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd on January 6th after she tried to climb through a glass-paneled door after parts of it had been shattered by another rioter, identified as Zachary Jordan Alam.

Babbitt, who reportedly had been standing next to Alam, was shot.

In April, the Biden Department of Justice announced they had closed the investigation into the fatal shooting and would not be pursuing criminal charges against Byrd, citing “insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution.”

Just last week, the Capitol Police confirmed a report from NBC News that they had exonerated Byrd, a 28-year veteran of the force. They stated in a press release that Byrd – who they did not name –  

[Draggingtree]

Maybe  justice is in site of those poor souls -- my opinion 

 

Supreme Court casts doubt on obstruction charges against hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters

David G. Savage

Tue, April 16, 2024 at 11:15 AM CDT·3 min read

7.9k

 

 

Insurrectionists loyal to President Trump storm the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (John Minchillo / Associated Press)

The Supreme Court cast doubt Tuesday on the legality of obstruction charges lodged against some 300 rioters arrested for breaking into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The court's conservatives questioned whether the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was aimed at corporate accounting fraud, can be used more broadly to prosecute those who obstruct "any official proceeding," including Congress' 2021 certification of President Biden's election victory.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Neil M. Gorsuch noted that the law made it a crime to destroy or conceal documents to impair an "official proceeding," but they voiced doubt over extending that to any disruptions of a proceeding.

If someone "pulls a fire alarm" to delay a vote in Congress, is that a federal felony subject to 20 years in prison, Gorsuch asked.

While the justices sounded divided, most of the conservatives suggested they were skeptical of upholding the obstruction charges.

Such a ruling would deal a blow to the Jan. 6 prosecutions, but it would not prevent punishing them for their actions.

More than 1,200 rioters were arrested for the Jan. 6 break-in at the Capitol.

Most were charged with assaulting the police officers who were on duty or with disorderly and disruptive conduct. Some were also charged with carrying dangerous or deadly weapons.

A few hundred were also charged with seeking to obstruct an official proceeding.:snip: