Wednesday’s violent attempted coup on Capitol Hill will forever live in infamy.
Police from Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department confirmed that four people have died as a result of the melee, and at least 52 people have been arrested.
One was shot and killed inside the Capitol building by a Capitol police officer. The woman, reported to be an Air Force veteran named Ashli Babbitt, was “transported to a local hospital where, after all life-saving efforts failed, she was announced deceased.”
Fourteen officers were hurt, two seriously enough to need hospitalization.
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D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee said that the fatal shooting would be investigated by the department’s Internal Affairs Division.
Contee also confirmed that three other people — two men and one woman — suffered “separate medical emergencies, which resulted in their deaths.” Their names or causes of death have not been released.
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A pair of pipe bombs were discovered by authorities as well, one each by the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee main offices.
The day’s carnage is prompting Americans to ask how this could have happened and wondering why there was such a lax response from area police, particularly in comparison to protests in the nation’s capital this summer.
The NAACP tweeted simply: “They’ve killed us for less!”
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D.C. police have said that of the 52 arrests made, 47 were for violations of the citywide 6 p.m. curfew, which was enacted yesterday afternoon. Mayor Muriel Bowser has extended an emergency order and curfew until after the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
“First Amendment protests have turned violent,” Bowser said in a statement. “Many persons came to the District armed and for the purpose of engaging in violence and destruction and have engaged in violence and destruction. They have fired chemical irritants, bricks, bottles and guns. They have breached the security of the Capitol and their destructive and riotous behavior has the potential to spread beyond the Capitol.”
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She put the blame on the outgoing commander-in-chief.
“President Trump continues to fan rage and violence by contending that the Presidential election was invalid,” the mayor contended. “Persons are dissatisfied with judicial rulings and the findings of State Boards of Elections, and some persons can be expected to continue their violent protests through the inauguration.”
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