Killing of Ashli Babbitt
On January 6, 2021, Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot during an attack on the United States Capitol.[1][2][3] She was part of a crowd of supporters of then U.S. president Donald Trump who breached the United States Capitol building seeking to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.[4][5][6]
Date
January 6, 2021
2:44 pm (UTC-5)
Deadly force used by officer guarding members of Congress from the Capitol insurrection rioters
Babbitt's attempt to climb through a shattered window beside a barricaded door into the Speaker's Lobby was thwarted when she was shot in the left shoulder by a United States Capitol Police (USCP) officer.[7][8][9][10] After a USCP emergency response team administered aid, Babbitt was transported to Washington Hospital Center, where she died.[11][12] The USCP deemed the shooting was "lawful and within Department policy" and "potentially saved Members (of Congress) and staff from serious injury and possible death".[13][14]
Shooting during the attempted breach of the Speaker's Lobby
At 2:44 p.m., law enforcement were trying to "defend two fronts" to the House Chamber, and "a lot of members [of Congress] and staff that were in danger at the time".[50][51] Pipe bombs had been discovered outside the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee,[52][53] and Capitol Police officers had been warned that many attackers were carrying concealed weapons.[54]
Babbitt, wearing a Trump flag as a cape, was among several dozen rioters who approached the doors to the Speaker's Lobby, adjacent to the House chambers.[7][55] Three uniformed officers were posted outside the Lobby where they were threatened by the crowd. One member of the mob yelled, "Fuck the Blue" (blue being a reference to the police). One officer guarding the doors told the others "They're ready to roll", and the three officers moved away from the barricaded doors leading to the Speaker's Lobby.[7] No longer impeded by police,
rioter Zachary Jordan Alam smashed a glass window beside the doors.[13][56] On the other side of those doors, many lawmakers and staff were being evacuated by Capitol Police,[7] but some were trapped in the House balcony.[57]
After "he's got a gun" was yelled several times when Lieutenant Michael Byrd aimed his weapon,[58] Babbitt, hoisted by two men,[19] began to climb through the shattered window. She was then shot in the left shoulder[10] by Lieutenant Byrd[11][7] and fell back among the other protesters.[19] Babbitt had been warned not to proceed through the window: one witness recalled that "A number of police and Secret Service were saying 'Get back! Get down! Get out of the way!'; [Babbitt] didn't heed the call."[59]
Many rioters immediately began to leave the scene, making room for a Capitol Police emergency response team to get in and administer aid, and Babbitt was transported to Washington Hospital Center where she later were declared dead.[7] Some media reports described Babbitt as "unarmed" at the time of the shooting,[60][61] but according to a January 11, 2021 crime scene examination report by the D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences, the police "recovered a 'Para Force' folding knife in Ms. Babbitt's pants pocket" after she was shot.[62][63][64][65][66]
U.S. Representative Markwayne Mullin, a witness to Babbitt's attempted breach, said that Lieutenant Byrd "didn't have a choice" but to shoot, and that his action "saved people's lives".[50][67]
The shooting was recorded on several cameras, and footage was widely circulated.[68] John Earle Sullivan, among those who recorded footage of the shooting, was arrested for his role in the attack.[69] Zachary Alam was also arrested for his role in the attack.[70][71] MSNBC aired live video of her body being rushed past the camera on a stretcher, outside the Capitol building.[72]
Investigation
Following the routine process for shootings by Capitol Police officers, the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia and the United States Department of Justice investigated Babbitt's death and made a determination that the shooting was "lawful and within Department policy".[13][73][3] Upon clearing Byrd, USCP released a press statement saying his action "potentially saved Members and staff from serious injury and possible death".[14]
Public remarks by the officer involved
After being cleared of wrongdoing, Byrd made his name public in an August 2021 interview for NBC News.[74][75][76][77][78] He said his name had been previously revealed in right-wing media and online forums and that he had received racist (Byrd is African-American) and violent threats, causing him to remain in hiding for several months. Looking back on his January 6 experience, Byrd said: "Once we barricaded the doors, we were essentially trapped where we were. There was no way to retreat. No other way to get out. If they get through that door, they're into the House chamber and upon the members of Congress." He stated that he had pulled the trigger as a "last resort" after the mob of protesters ignored his repeated orders to get back, and that he had no idea at that moment that Babbitt was unarmed and was a woman. Byrd commented: "I know that day I saved countless lives. I know members of Congress, as well as my fellow officers and staff, were in jeopardy and in serious danger. And that's my job".[60]
Reactions
Though they deplored Babbitt's death shortly after the event, few among Republican Members of Congress and conservative media initially claimed any wrongdoing from law enforcement, or suggested that it warranted a backlash. Gradually, though, efforts were made to suggest that Babbitt was a martyr, or at least a patriot who was unjustly killed.[79] Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin were sympathetic to Babbitt, with Levin understating Babbitt's actions and claiming that she had just been "walking around with the rest". U.S. Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ) said Babbitt had been "executed", later doubling down on that comment and adding that the police officer had been "lying in wait" and demanding to know his name. This drew a rebuke from representative Liz Cheney, who accused Gosar of "[smearing] the men and women who defended us". The Washington Post reported in June 2021, "increasingly, key elements of the conservative movement [were] suggesting Ashli Babbitt was a martyr".[79] According to The New York Times, these included far-right extremists and white supremacists,[80] some of whom also viewed Babbitt as a "freedom fighter".[80] Democratic strategist Mark Burns said this was a "dangerous development for a Republican Party with members [28] increasingly comfortable pressing for and defending political violence".[81] Both he and David Frum in The Atlantic compared these efforts to the Nazi glorification of Horst Wessel.[82]
Some QAnon supporters, including Lin Wood, have said that Babbitt is still alive and that her death was a "false flag" operation.[28][83]
In October 2021, Trump recorded a video message arguing that "There was no reason Ashli should've lost her life that day. We must all demand justice for Ashli and her family".[84][85][1]
Russian president Vladimir Putin condemned the shooting of Babbitt, describing it as an "assassination".[86] Ernesto Araújo, the foreign minister of far-right Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, called for an investigation into Babbitt's death.[87]
Legacy
Babbitt's mother, Micki Witthoeft, became politically active following her daughter's death. In July 2021, she appeared at a Donald Trump rally where she was introduced by Paul Gosar and received a standing ovation from the crowd. During the rally, Trump expressed condolences to Witthoeft and acknowledged that Babbitt had died trying to salvage his presidency. Witthoeft later said in an interview that she was writing letters of support to January 6 arrestees and commented that her daughter had "made the ultimate sacrifice to bring attention to a stolen election. Half the country loves her and half the country hates her. It's weird to have your child belong to the world".[88] Babbitt's husband told reporters that he does not want violence done in his wife's name, after being asked about comments made by Michael Braynard, the organizer of the Justice for J6 rally, which was dedicated in part to Babbitt.[89]
Babbitt's name and the circumstances of her death have been invoked by various groups. Shortly after her death, Babbitt's name and image were used widely by extremist groups on social media groups, such as Parler and Telegram, with some using white nationalist and antisemitic themes.[90]
In February 2022, a group of American truckers attempting to emulate the Canadian truckers protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates told reporters that they were also protesting Babbitt's death along with issues such as COVID-19 restrictions and critical race theory.[91]
In May 2023, during a round of tit for tat sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Byrd was one of 500 Americans to have financial and travel restrictions imposed on them. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the list included: "those in...law enforcement agencies who are directly involved in the persecution of dissidents in the wake of the so-called storming of the Capitol."[92][93]
Wrongful death lawsuit
On January 5, 2024, Judicial Watch filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Babbitt's husband, Aaron Babbitt, and her estate,[94] seeking $30 million in damages from the federal government.[95] The lawsuit is funded by Crowdfunding, which raised $462,000 for the lawsuit. Having been filed almost 3 years after Babbit's death, the lawsuit missed the two year statute of limitations imposed by the Federal Tort Claims Act. But the lead attorney for the plaintiff, Terry Roberts, believes that the two year statute of limitations set by the Federal Tort Claims Act might not apply either because the statute of limitations set by state law trumps the limitations set in the federal law, or because COVID restrictions that were in effect during the time of the death should give relief with regards to the statute of limitations.[96]