#blassingame

Months After Riot, Capitol Police Face Multiple Crises

Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, has warned that the Capitol Police force will run out of money by August if the Senate fails to pass the security funding bill that the House approved in May over unanimous opposition from Republicans. Already, Mr. Leahy said, the Capitol Police has delayed purchases of “critical equipment,” such as…

“In a federal suit filed Tuesday in D.C., Officers James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby allege that for months, Trump rallied the insurrectionists with baseless election fraud claims that eventually culminated in the breach of the Capitol that left five dead, including a Capitol Police officer. About 140 D.C. and Capitol Police officers were injured, according to the police union, and two officers who had been on duty at the Capitol that day later died by suicide. ... Blassingame, a 17-year veteran, and Hemby, who has been on the force 11 years, allege that Trump was directly responsible for inciting a mob of supporters gathered at his ‘Stop the Steal’ rally outside the White House. Encouraged by Trump’s orders to march to the Capitol, the lawsuit says, the mob attacked officers and destroyed federal property ... ‘The insurrectionist mob, which Trump had inflamed, encouraged, incited, directed, and aided and abetted, forced its way over and past the plaintiffs and their fellow officers, pursuing and attacking them inside and outside the United States Capitol, and causing the injuries,’ the suit states.”

Where’s the “Blue Lives Matter!” crowd now? Shouldn’t they be supporting this lawsuit, championing these police officers, and criticizing those who perpetrated these violent attacks and those who encouraged them?

Oh, right. When police officers are trying to stop you from breaking the law, their lives don’t matter at all. “Blue Lives Matter” only to the extent that what you really mean is “Black Lives Don’t Matter.”