McCarthy breaks with MTG on officer who shot Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt
Juliegrace Brufke
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Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) defended the police officer who shot Jan. 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt in the wake of conservative Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s (R-GA) comments alleging she was murdered by law enforcement at the Capitol.
“I think the police officer was doing his job,” the California Republican said at a press conference on Thursday when asked about Greene’s remarks.
During a House Oversight Committee hearing on Tuesday, Greene likened the death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old unarmed black man who died after being severely beaten by five Memphis police officers, to Babbitt, who was shot after trying to climb through a broken window while attempting to get into the Speaker’s Lobby off the House floor while lawmakers were being evacuated.
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“I watched the video, and it was tragic and extremely difficult to watch,” Greene said. “There’s a woman in this room whose daughter was murdered on Jan. 6. Ashli Babbitt. And Ashli Babbitt has — there’s never been a trial.”
“As a matter of fact, no one has cared about the person that shot and killed her. And no one in this Congress has really addressed that issue,” she added. “And I believe that there are many people who came into the Capitol on Jan. 6 whose civil rights and liberties are being violated heavily.”
Both the Department of Justice and the Capitol Police conducted investigations that determined there was no wrongdoing committed by the officer who shot Babbitt.
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The five police officers who beat Nichols have been charged with murder.
Greene, who became a major booster for McCarthy during his House speakership bid, was recently put back on committees after being removed during the previous Congress over a string of inflammatory posts on social media.