Courage under Fire by Steven A. Sund

Courage under Fire by Steven A. Sund

Author:Steven A. Sund
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Published: 2022-12-28T07:40:47+00:00


MPD made a total of seventy-three arrests citywide, including forty-six at the Capitol. Also, MPD confiscated six guns, two of them on Capitol grounds.

The USPP made one arrest and confiscated one rifle.

The investigation into the death of Ashli Babbitt was conducted by the Metropolitan Police Department, the United States Capitol Police, the FBI, and the US Attorney’s Office. Nevertheless, there has been a great deal of speculation surrounding why the shooting was classified as a homicide. The MPD investigates all deaths and homicides in the city, regardless of where or in whose jurisdiction they occur. It was the MPD Homicide Branch that investigated Babbitt’s death, and it was classified as a homicide. That is how all fatal shootings, with the exception of suicides, are classified in the District of Columbia. The listed manner of death would be homicide, and the listed cause would be gunshot wound.

The US Attorney then made a determination whether there was a basis to bring criminal charges in reference to the shooting. In this case, the US Attorney’s Office declined to pursue criminal charges. There has been significant public scrutiny and also ridicule, including from the former president, of the official’s use of lethal force in the case. Any loss of life is tragic. But any law enforcement officer with a mission to protect the president, vice president, or members of Congress, when faced with similar circumstances, would likely have done the same to prevent serious bodily injury or loss of life.

Regarding President Trump, I and many others in law enforcement appreciated that he had always publicly supported the police, even when doing so was unpopular. But his response and actions on January 6 troubled me deeply. He riled up a crowd, sent them to the Capitol, and then retreated to the safety of the White House, where he reportedly watched coverage of the events all afternoon as police were bloodied and abused. Not only were USCP and MPD officers being injured, but his own beloved Secret Service had a detail on the Hill with Pence and with CDU squads assisting me with the riots. Yet the law-and-order president sat and allowed the attack to go on. His half-hearted attempts at de-escalation via tweeting to the crowd were not what I would have expected from a leader who, only six months earlier, was “taking swift and decisive action to protect our great capital . . . to stop the rioting, looting, and wanton destruction of property.” Where was the support for my men and women and all the other law enforcement officers who were trying to protect the Capitol, Congress, and his vice president?

He watched as a mob laid siege to the Capitol, but unlike in the summer, he was not publicly outraged at this violence and destruction, perpetrated by this group of people, to whom he made a point of saying, “We love you,” as he finally, reluctantly asked them to stop. In June, he had spoken of never giving in to anger, hatred, and



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