When Shit Gets Real

 You can take this to the bank - no police officer begins their shift hoping it is the day they get to take a life. Me, forty-two years after my first duty day, with thirty-five years of service.

An incident of immense tragedy took place in the US Capitol Building on January 6th. A woman from California, present in DC to support Donald Trump's demand for justice, was fatally shot by a US Capitol Police officer. Her death is an immense loss to her friends, her family, and our country.

A video of the incident exists, lasting about thirty seconds. It is available on Rumble, if you care to find it. It is graphic, heartbreaking, compelling. I have watched it ten times.

The video begins at a doorway well inside the Capitol Building, which leads to a hallway and some offices. The thick wire-reinforced glass has been broken, but still covers the window opening. Furniture - chairs, perhaps, are stacked against the doors on the opposite side. Several plain-clothed officers are visible, including one who is mere feet away. He has his pistol drawn, and is pointing it at something, or someone, to his left. 

The officer appears to be giving commands, but they are not audible over the din of other voices shouting from the videographer's side of the door. It is typical of a mob scene, full of noise and emotions and anger. The Capitol police officer takes a step forward, then another. He fires a shot.

The camera immediately pans to the recorder's right, and a form that appears to have been in the window of the adjacent door falls backward onto the floor. It is apparent that the person - later identified as Ashli Babbitt - is grievously injured and she knows it.

At about the time Ms. Babbitt has fallen, a number of armed and uniformed officers appear, ascending a staircase emptying onto the same landing upon which Ms. Babbitt now lays. They signal to the officers on the other side of the door that they have control.

Much has been made on social media today, to the effect that an unarmed woman was murdered by a US Capitol police officer. Nearly everyone stating this has drawn their conclusion based on a thirty second video.

No one who is a professional, who has been in an officer-involved shooting; has witnessed an officer-involved shooting; or has assisted in the aftermath of an officer involved shooting would, upon merely viewing the video, reach any other conclusion beside that it was a horrible tragedy.

The investigation of a police shooting is a painstaking, detail-oriented, heartbreaking experience. The initial collection of evidence - statements, video, weapons, photography - can take 24 or more hours. Collating what is collected can take days, or weeks. Investigators make polished, lengthy presentations to prosecutors, to command staff and eventually a determination is made whether the use of force comported with the law, and the policies of the officer's agency.

An officer is permitted to use deadly physical force in a restricted number of cases. One of them is if the officer reasonably believes that they or an innocent third person is in imminent danger of suffering serious bodily injury, or death.

When you watch the video, ask yourself what facts you lack in making that determination. Because the absence, or presence, of a single material fact can change the entire outcome, do you know enough to reach a conclusion?

I have been present at several police shootings, when shit got real. I've assisted in the aftermath of several others, including one where two of my friends were also shot. I'm waiting for the investigation in DC to unfold before I reach an opinion.

You should, too.