Last Updated on April 29, 2022
The Epoch Times has released bombshell bodycam footage that shows the beating of unconscious Trump supporter Rosanne Boyland on January 6. Boyland died on January 6 after being crushed at the mouth of the Lower West Terrace tunnel at the U.S. Capitol. While bystanders tried to drag the unconscious Boyland out of the milieu, a District of Columbia police officer used a large wooden stick to strike her three times.
https://twitter.com/3sidedstory/status/1520031750520381441
Use-of-force expert Stanley Kephart told The Epoch Times that the three full-force blows by D.C. police officer Lila Morris constituted a “felony assault with intent to cause great bodily harm.” Kephart further called Morris’ use of force “indefensible” and the internal-affairs investigation of Boyland’s death a “clear and convincing coverup.”
Earlier this year, Morris was cleared after an Internal Affairs investigation found that her actions were “reasonably justified.”
The Internal Affairs investigation was opened in September 2021 after a witness filed a complaint. The witness, Gary McBride of Decatur, Texas, compiled video evidence of the officer striking the unconscious Trump supporter with a steel baton and a large wooden stick at the entrance to the West Terrace tunnel. A request for bodycam footage was denied at the time.
The bombshell report from The Epoch Times includes footage from multiple officers and witnesses, shining new light on the conduct of U.S. Capitol Police in the events surrounding Boyland’s death.
Police bodycam footage shows protesters begging law enforcement to help them render life-saving aid to Boyland from the moment she collapsed. “She’s gonna die, save her life please!” protesters can be heard shouting while Boyland was on the ground.
“The pleas grew more desperate as it became apparent Boyland was dying. That sparked a violent backlash from rioters, who attacked the police line with fists, flag poles, sticks, and a whisk broom,” reports Justin Hanneman of The Epoch Times.
As Boyland was being dragged to safety, officer Lila Morris can be seen forcefully striking the unconscious Trump supporter with a wooden stick. This sparked a response from the crowd.
Some of the protesters who fought with police in an effort to drag Boyland to safety are facing decades in prison. One protester who allegedly used the same wooden stick used by Morris to strike and jab at police in the terrace tunnel was charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a dangerous weapon. Jonathan Mellis was charged in a 10-count indictment on March 10, 2021 and has been held in jail awaiting trial.
Kephart, upon reviewing the previously unreleased footage, told The Epoch Times that Morris’s use of force was a felonious “assault under the color of authority,” with intent to cause great bodily harm.
“I believe two things were in operation here. One was anger at this person,” the use-of-force expert said, referring to Boyland. “That was overridden by fear. And those two elements were the causal connection between what was done to the person by the officer and the result.”
Police are trained not to strike people in the head with a blunt object. “If you have a trained officer who is angry at what the crowd is doing and the crowd rises up and puts him in a position where he feels his personal safety is compromised, fear begins to take over the anger, and the reflexive response throws the training right out the window,” Kephart said.
After an autopsy performed by D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on January 7, 2021, the cause of death was ruled amphetamine intoxication. Boyland’s family has strongly rejected this conclusion.
The Boyland family hired Park Dietz & Associates to review the autopsy findings. The Park Dietz forensic pathologist agreed that the manner of death was an accident but concluded Boyland’s death was caused by manual asphyxia.
Boyland had a prescription for Adderall, but there is no evidence to suggest she was impaired by this on January 6.
Kephart told The Epoch Times that the use of tear gas and other crowd control munitions inside the tunnel was negligent. “If you’re using gas munitions to cause the air to be saturated with a gas displacing the oxygen, and causes them to panic and pass out, thereby clogging the ability for them to disperse because they’re passed out, you have created and worsened the problem,” Kephart said.
“This is an absolute symptom of a lack of proper training. This offends common sense.”
In addition to being cleared of any wrongdoing, officer Lila Morris was featured at a guest of honor shortly after the events of January 6.
MORE: You MUST hear about Ofc. Lila Morris. MPD Acting Chief Contee says Morris "fought like hell" in the tunnel of death behind Ofc. Hodges (rt) who was squeezed in the doorway. Morris was injured, then got back in the melee. Women, too, fought hard to reclaim the #Capitol. pic.twitter.com/rdFg4lMyJ5
— leslifoster (@leslifoster) February 8, 2021
