By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times
For most of my life, I’ve accepted the validity of that warning in the 23rd verse of the Book of Romans in the New Testament that crime doesn’t pay and, in fact, can exact a high price…our own death.
The actual wording, according to the King James Version of the Bible, is “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
And doesn’t it stand to reason that dying while committing a crime is a perfect example of that biblical prophecy?
If so, why did the Trump Administration announce last Friday that a preliminary agreement had been reached to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Ashli Babbitt, the woman fatally shot by police inside the U.S. Capitol during the riot on Jan. 6, 2021?
Babbitt’s estate filed a $30 million lawsuit last year over her death which resulted from her attempt to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door inside the Capitol.
The police officer who shot her was cleared of wrongdoing by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, which concluded that he acted in self-defense and in the defense of members of Congress. DC police came to the same conclusion.
Lawyers for Babbitt’s estate and the U. S. Department of Justice told a judge in Washington’s federal court that a settlement had been reached “in principle” but the details had not been worked out.
The Capitol Police officer said he fired as a “last resort” and when he pulled the trigger he had no idea whether the person jumping through the window was armed or not. Babbitt, 35, was not armed.
Sadly, the idea that this woman’s family is going to be paid what likely will be a considerable amount of money for her criminal conduct is another example of how the Trump Administration is routinely ignoring and/or defying the rule of law.
I wonder how much our country will have to pay each of the other nearly 1,500 rioters who had their sentences commuted or charges dismissed or pardoned.
Contact Keith at keithkappes@gmail.com
