MTG calls for investigation into civil rights abuses experienced by Jan 6 defendants

In a Tuesday House Oversight Committee meeting Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene urged the committee to investigate civil rights abuses experienced by Trump supporters who were arrested in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, as well as review the shooting of Ashli Babbitt.

"There’s a woman in this room whose daughter was murdered on January 6, Ashli Babbitt, and … 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, January 6 committee didn’t address it," Greene said.

"And I believe that there are many people that came into the Capitol on January 6 whose civil rights and liberties are being violated heavily."

Greene said that Oversight Committee should "look into those civil rights abuses, because they’re happening in a jail right here in this city."

"I’ve been in that jail, and it’s not just the January 6 defendants, pretrial by the way, it’s many of the inmates in there, living in horrific conditions," she said.

Greene concluded by saying that "we have to make sure that we crack down on the two-tier justice system, because that needs to end."

Greene made the comments in response to Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who proposed adding a civil rights and civil liberties subcommittee. That subcommittee was ultimately voted down.

"When over 100 people every year are losing their lives in routine traffic stops, when over a dozen large police departments are operating under consent decrees for violations of their citizens’ civil liberties and when the attention of a nation is focused on the issue of civil rights, it is our duty to rise to the occasion and conduct oversight and provide accountability on this crucial subject," Crockett said, noting that the subcommittee amendment should be passed "in light of the tragedy of this past weekend."

In response to Crockett, Greene said, "Ms Crockett, I do agree with you about Tyre Nichols’ death. I watched the video and it was tragic and extremely difficult to watch."

"I would also point out that that city is Democrat-controlled and the five officers that have been arrested and charged are black. And I think that this isn’t an issue of racism or anything like that. I think the judge and the jury and the trial needs to work out what happened here."