WHO KILLED ASHLI BABBITT?

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07.13.2021 07:07PM

The best document thus far showing the scope and nature of the Jan 6th attack is from NYT Visual Investigations. I'd encourage anybody to watch it before drawing conclusions. The section relevant to Ashli Babbitt's shooting starts at 25:39 - 28:40.

https://youtu.be/jWJVMoe7OY0

We should note that the small vanguard Babbitt was in had an opportunity to threaten House members because AZ -R Paul Gosar continued speaking for 15 minutes after lockdown was called. Gosar was one of the original organizers of the "Stop the Steal" movement and has been accused by multiple House members of orchestrating the attack. Gosar is also the first politician to start demanding the name of the officer who killed Ashli Babbitt, which is strange because almost nobody on Earth is in a better position to know that individual's identity than Gosar.

Gosar was one of the last to leave the chamber so unlike us, he can see the identity of the officer on the far side of the door, protecting Gosar's escape.
We can see from the video that the man holding the gun is wearing a suit and probably black.
Metropolitan police confirmed that the shooter was a plainclothes Capitol Police officer.
Given Gosar's proximity to the shooter and the fact that there can't have been many extra officers hanging around 90 minutes after the violence began I think its very likely that the shooter is the security officer seen advising the House to don masks at 26:09. That's the back of Gosar's head in the foreground.

The Congressional Record only list the speaker as "a security officer" but its seems hard to believe that Gosar couldn't id a guy he works in the same room with all day or at least look him up in the congressional directory
Further, it's public knowledge that the officer has not returned back to work. I might not be able to figure out who shot Babbitt from a list of black plainclothes floor security officers who haven't been to work for 6 months but I assume that's a simple task for Gosar.
I see no reason not to conclude that Gosar's (and by extention, Trump's) supposed ignorance is all pantomime.

Nevertheless, I think the shooter's name should be released. I understand this information exposes an officer who has already sacrificed much in service to our Legislature to increased vitriol and harm but I can't see how the public can maintain oversight of police violence without public access to individual names and records. Trump's reasons are entirely scummy but we should release the name anyway.

Here is Trump latest round of lies regarding his attempts to nullify by violence the voice and choice of the American people as expressed on Nov 2nd.

FOX's "Sunday Morning Futures." with Maria Bartiromo- Sunday, Jul 11

BARTIROMO:....And I know that you have had some time to reflect on what took place on that day, January 6.

Talk to us about what you're thinking about as you reflect. What happened that day, from your standpoint?

TRUMP: So, there was a big rally called. And, actually, when I say big, who knew? But there was a rally called.

And a tremendous number of people, the largest one I have ever spoken before, is called by people, by patriots. And they asked me if I'd speak. And I did. And it was a very mild-mannered speech, as I think has been -- in fact, they just came out with a report in Congress, and they didn't mention my name, literally.

In fact, the report mentions Trump 27 times. The bipartisan report makes no judgement regarding Trump's claims of fraud in the election but explicitly credits failures in the Intelligence Committee, Dept of Defense, and the National Guard as largely contributing to harms of Jan 6th. Apparently, Trump didn't know he was in charge of those depts. The entirety of Trump's speech on that day is included in the report as relevant to the insurrectionists' mission.

But what they were complaining about and the reason, in my opinion, you had over a million people there, which the press doesn't like to report at all,

The permit for the event was bumped from 5,000 attendees to 30,000 on Jan 3rd. Best estimates of crowd size range between 8,000 and 30,000 attendees.

because it shows too much -- too much activity, too much -- too much spirit and faith and love. There was such love at that rally.

You had over a million people there. They were there for one reason, the rigged election. They felt the election was rigged. That's why they were there. And they were peaceful people. These were great people.

The crowd was unbelievable. And I mentioned the word love. The love -- the love in the air, I have never seen anything like it.

https://static.dw.com/image/56158443_101.jpg

And that's why they went to Washington.

BARTIROMO: You know, Mr...

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: And, by the way, I can tell you that I thought -- because I was hearing from a lot of people there are going to be a lot of people coming there, much bigger than anybody ever anticipated by many times.

And I had suggested to the secretary of defense, perhaps we should have 10,000 National Guardsmen standing by. And he reported that, as you know, but I -- we should have -- and he was turned down. I said, it's subject to Congress. They run it. Nancy Pelosi runs it. So, it would be subject to the Capitol Police and the other things, whatever they need.

But I said, perhaps you need 10,000, because I think the crowd is going to be very large. Who knows? Maybe two people will show up. But I think it's going to be very large.

Anyway, he had that. He went to them. They said it won't be necessary. They were the ones that were responsible. They were the ones. And this came out very loudly in the report.

The president, [Acting Defense Secretary Christopher ]Miller recalled, asked how many troops the Pentagon planned to turn out the following day. "We’re like, ‘We’re going to provide any National Guard support that the District requests,’" Miller responded. "And Trump goes, ‘You’re going to need 10,000 people.’ No, I’m not talking bullshit. He said that. And we’re like, ‘Maybe. But you know, someone’s going to have to ask for it.’"

But Trump didn't ask for it, although as both Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard and leader of the Stop the Steal movement, only Trump had an accurate sense of what was needed and the capacity to meet that need. Miller and Pelosi both confirm that nobody talked to Pelosi's office and of course, the report comes to the opposite conclusion of Trump's assertion.

BARTIROMO: Yes, that report showed FBI operatives potentially aware.

But there are unanswered questions here. What did the FBI know? Why weren't your Cabinet secretaries briefed? What did Speaker Pelosi know, Chuck Schumer, McConnell?

Do you have any answers to that? They continue to call this an armed insurrection.

TRUMP: Oh, I think they knew plenty.

Trump is here accusing Pelosi, Schumer, and McConnell of secretly knowing more about the size and intentions of Trump's own ally and faulting them for not requesting more help from him and the armed forces Trump commands while NOT faulting himself who is in ultimately in charge of both sides of the equation. How entirely disconnected from reality Trump seems to be. Naturally, the FOX interviewer has no curiosity regarding this claim.

BARTIROMO: And yet no guns were seized, Mr. President.

TRUMP: Right. There were no guns whatsoever.

Let's recall that police weren't arresting or frisking the rioters so an accurate assessment is impossible Police report that at least hundreds of guns were in evidence on the rioters and plenty of holster bulges are in evidence on video. Of the 14 rioters arrested (mostly that vanguard held at gunpoint by police while evacuating the Senate), 2 were charged with carrying weapons without a permit. If we extrapolate that sampling percentage and apply to the 8,000 besieging the capitol we get more than a thousands guns but that's just speculation. Others arrested had pepper sprays, stun guns, tasers, brass knuckles, lead pipes, knives, and a whip. Police found a Tavor X95 rifle with a telescopic sight, a Glock 9 mm with high-capacity magazines and more than 2,500 rounds of ammunition, at least 320 rounds of armor-piercing bullets, an AR-15-style rifle, a shotgun, a crossbow, several machetes, smoke grenades and 11 Molotov cocktails in two cars owned by rioters parked near the Capitol. Two pipe bombs were discovered concealed next to the entrances to the RNC and DNC's national HQs.

And yet Antifa, which went into Portland and went into so many other places, Seattle -- they took over a big part of Seattle. People died. And there were plenty of guns there, by the way -- and in Minnesota, in Minneapolis. They got -- there was no repercussions for them. And yet they have people still in jail. There were no guns. There were no guns.

Of the 14,000+ charges associated with George Floyd protests, most were misdemeanors and a majority of charges have been dropped. Of the 500 felony charges brought, most are still pending trial. About 30% of all felony charges are associated with Portland rioters.

And, by the way, while you're at it, who shot Ashli Babbitt? Why are they keeping that secret? Who is the person that shot...

BARTIROMO: Well...

TRUMP: ... an innocent, wonderful, incredible woman, a military woman, right in the head? And there's no repercussions.

In fact, Babbit was shot once in the upper right chest.

If that were on the other side, it would be the biggest story in this country. Who shot Ashli Babbitt? People want to know, and why.

BARTIROMO: Well, that's right.

And I want to talk about that, because Ashli Babbitt, a wonderful woman, fatally shot on January 6 as she tried to climb out of a broken window.

That's quite false. Babbitt was climbing in through a window she and her band had just broken and that window was the last physical barrier between the rioters and the fleeing congressmen (including Gosar). The plainclothes policeman and his pistol were literally the last line of defense and Babbitt was the only rioter to breach that line. Of all the rioters that day, Veteran soldier Babbitt was the closest any got to their intended targets and the only who breached every line of defense. [27:50-28:40] The rioters at that door backed down pretty quickly after that single shot.

Her family has spoken out. Her family has been on "Tucker Carlson." And they want answers as far as why this wonderful woman, young woman who went to peaceful protests was shot.

Do you have any information? There is speculation that this was a security detail in a leading member of Congress' security detail, a Democrat.

(CROSSTALK)

BARTIROMO: What can you tell us in terms of who shot Ashli Babbitt? What do you know, Mr. President?

TRUMP: So -- so, I have heard that.

I will tell you they know who shot Ashli Babbitt. They're protecting that person. I have heard also that it was the head of security for a certain high official, a Democrat.

Capitol Hill Police have confirmed that the shooter did not belong to any individual security detail.

And we will see, because it's going to come out. It's going to come out.

Again, there's no reason to think Trump can't have the name of Babbitt's shooter at will, since some of Trump's closes alliest were eye-witnesses to the shooting and were the very individuals being protected by that shooting from the breach by Babbitt. Those same Trump allies, Gosar, Biggs, and Brooks particularly voted against recognizing CHP valor in the wake of the attack. Gosar has refused to even shake hands or acknowledge the cops who may have saved his ass that day.

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07.13.2021 11:51PM

So who killed Ashli Babitt again? Why can’t good old Joe tell us. Oh wait, he’s in his basement asleep

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07.14.2021 01:45AM

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@ILikePie5

What about the names of the cops that waved Babbitt to the killing fields?

Topic's author

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07.14.2021 01:54AM

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@ILikePie5

So who killed Ashli Babitt again?

In the largest sense, you killed Ashli Babbitt.

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07.14.2021 02:08AM

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@ILikePie5

It was a gun that decided on it's own to kill AB.

Topic's author

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07.14.2021 02:24AM

Imagine asking Lee after he crossed the Potomac on July 14, "General Lee! the South is lost. The Grand Army of the Republic is in pursuit. Every soldier wants to know....do we surrender or do we continue to fight?"

How would the South respond if Lee answered, "Who killed Lew Armistead?" and repeated it every time the question was asked?

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07.14.2021 02:29AM

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@oromagi

In the largest sense, you killed Ashli Babbitt.

And you killed Kennedy :)

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07.14.2021 02:31AM

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@Greyparrot

It was a gun that decided on it's own to kill AB

Makes sense.

After all the Dems do believe that guns are always the culprit.

It’s just weird that Joe and his political hacks including Schumer and Garland don’t release the name

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07.14.2021 02:32AM

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@Greyparrot

What about the names of the cops that waved Babbitt to the killing fields?

I just love this thread. A couple of pages of tangent but no answer to the central question

Topic's author

#10

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07.14.2021 02:51AM

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@ILikePie5

So who killed Ashli Babitt again? Why can’t good old Joe tell us.

How would Joe know? The question is why doesn't Paul Gosar tell us.

Oh wait, he’s in his basement asleep

In fact, Biden spent the afternoon in Philly talking about this. I guess Tucker missed it.

For your edification: “The Big Lie is Just That— A Big Lie”

Joe Biden Voting Rights Speech Transcript July 13: “The Big Lie is Just That— A Big Lie”

Folks, good afternoon. There’s a serious subject I’d like to talk about today. I’m here in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center, the city and the place where the story of We The People began. It’s a story that’s neither simple, nor straightforward. That’s because the story is the sum of our parts, and all those parts are fundamentally human. And being human is to be imperfect, driven by appetite and ambition, as much as by goodness and grace.

But some things in America should be simple and straightforward. Perhaps the most important of those things, the most fundamental of those things, is the right to vote. The right to vote freely.

The right to vote freely, the right to vote fairly. The right to have your vote counted. The democratic threshold is Liberty. With it, anything’s possible. Without it, nothing, nothing. And for our democracy and the work, and to deliver our work and our people, it’s up to all of us to protect that right. This is a test of our time and what I’m here to talk about today.

Just thinking about the past election, 102 year old woman in Arkansas who voted for the first time on the very spot she once picked cotton. A 94 year woman in Michigan voted early and in person in her 72nd consecutive election. You know what she said said? She said this election was quote, “the most important vote that we ever had.”

A daughter who voted in memory of her dad who died of COVID-19 so others wouldn’t have the experience of pain and darkness and loss that she was going through. Patients out there. And the parents, the parents who voted for school their children will learn in. Sons and daughters voted for the planet they’re going to live on. Young people just turning 18 and everyone who for the first time in their lives thought they could truly make a difference.

America, America, and Americans of every background voted. They voted for good jobs and higher wages. They voted for racial equity and justice. They voted to make healthcare a right, not a privilege. The reason Americans went to vote and the lengths they went to vote, to be able to vote, this past election were absolutely extraordinary.

In fact, the fact that so many election officials across the country made it easier and safer for them to be able to vote in the middle of a pandemic is remarkable. As a result, in 2020 more people voted in America than ever, ever in the history of America in the middle of a once in a century pandemic.

All told, more than 150 Americans of every age, of every race, of every background exercised their right to vote. They voted early, they voted absentee. They voted in person. They voted by mail. They voted by Dropbox. And then, they got their families and friends to go out and vote.

Election officials, the entire electoral system withstood unrelenting political attacks, physical threats, intimidation and pressure. They did so with unyielding courage and faith in our democracy with recount after recount after recount, court case after court case, the 2020 election was the most scrutinized election ever in American history. Challenge after challenge brought to local, state, and election officials, state legislatures, state and federal courts, even to the United States Supreme Court not once but twice.

More than 80 judges, including those appointed by my predecessor, heard the arguments. In every case, neither cause nor evidence was found. Don’t undermine the national achievement of administrating the historic election in the face of such extraordinary challenges.

Audits, recounts were conducted in Arizona and Wisconsin. In Georgia it was recounted three times. It’s clear, for those who challenge the results and question the integrity of the election, no other election has ever been held under such scrutiny and such high standards. The big lie is just that— a big lie.

The 2020 election, it’s not hyperbole, suggest the most examined and the fullest expression on the will of the people in the history of this nation. That should be celebrated, it is the example of America at its best. But instead, we continue to see an example of human nature at its worst, something darker and more sinister.

In America, if you lose you except the results. You follow the Constitution, you try again. You don’t call facts fake and then try to bring down the American experiment just because you’re unhappy. That’s not statesmanship.

That’s not statesmanship, that’s selfishness. That’s not democracy it’s the denial of the right to vote. It suppresses, it subjugates. The denial full of free and fair elections is the most un-American thing that any of us can imagine. The most undemocratic, most unpatriotic and sadly not unprecedented.

From denying enslaved people full citizenship until the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments after the Civil War to denying women the right to vote until the 19th Amendment 100 years ago. To poll taxes and literacy tests and the Ku Klux Klan campaigns of violence and terror that lasted into the ’50s and ’60s. To the Supreme Court decision in 2013 and then again just two weeks ago, a decision that weakened the landmark Voting Rights Act. To the willful election attacks in 2020, and then to a whole other level of threat, the violence and the deadly insurrection on the Capitol on January 6th.

Just got back from Europe, speaking to the G7 and to NATO. They wonder, not a joke… They wonder, Gov. They asked me, “Is it going to be okay?” The citadel to democracy in the world, “Is it going to be okay?”

Time and again, we’ve weathered threats to the right to vote in free and fair elections and each time we found a way to overcome. That’s what we must do today. Vice President Harris and I have spent our careers doing this work, and I’ve asked her to lead, to bring people together to protect the right to vote in our democracy. And it starts with continuing the fight to pass H.R. 1, the For the People Act.

That bill would help end voter suppression in the states, get dark money out of politics, give voice to the people at the grassroots level, create fair district maps and end partisan political gerrymander. Last month Republicans opposed even debating, even considering For the People Act. Senate Democrats stood United to protect our democracy and the sanctity of the vote. We must pass the For the People Act, it’s a national imperative.

We must also fight for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore and expand voting protections, to prevent voter suppression. All the Congress women and men here, there’s a bunch of you, you knew John, many of you.

Just weeks ago the Supreme Court, yet again, weakened the Voting Rights Act and upheld what Justice Kagan called quote, “A significant race based disparity in voting opportunities.” The Court’s decision, as harmful as it is, does not limit the Congress’s ability to repair the damage done. That’s the important point.

It puts the burden back on Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act to its intended strength. As soon as Congress passes the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advanced Act, I will sign it and let the whole world see it. That will be an important moment.

And the world is wondering, and Dwight knows what I’m talking about, for real. You know, the world is wondering what is America going to do? But we also have to be clear-eyed about the obstruction we face. Legislation is one tool, but not the only tool. And it’s not the only measure of our obligation to defend democracy today.

Topic's author

#11

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07.14.2021 02:51AM

For example, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the United States Department of Justice is going to be using its authorities to challenge the onslaught of state laws undermining voting rights in old and new ways. The focus will be on dismantling racially discriminatory laws like the recent challenged to Georgia’s vicious anti voting law.

The Department of Justice will do so with the Voting Rights Division that at my request is doubling its size and enforcement staff. Civil rights groups and other organizations have announced their plans to stay vigilant and challenge these odious laws in the courts. In Texas, for example, Republican led state legislature wants to allow partisan poll watchers to intimidate voters and impartial poll workers.

They want voters to dive further, and be able to be in a position where they wonder who’s watching them, and intimidate them. To wait longer to vote, to drive a hell of a lot… Excuse me… A long way to get to vote. They want to make it so hard and inconvenient that they hope people don’t vote at all. That’s what this is about.

This year alone, 17 states have enacted, not just proposed but enacted, 28 new laws to make it harder for Americans to vote. Not to mention, it gets this nearly 400 additional bills Republican members of the state legislatures are trying to pass. The 21st Century Jim Crow assault is real, it’s unrelenting, and we’re going to challenge it vigorously.

While this broad assault against voting rights is not unprecedented, it is taking on new and literally pernicious forms. It’s no longer just about who gets to vote or making it easier for eligible voters to vote. It’s about who gets to count the vote, who gets to count whether or not your vote counted at all.

It’s about moving from independent election administrators who worked for the people, to polarized state legislatures and partisan actors who work for political parties. To me, this is simple, this is election subversion. It’s the most dangerous threat to voting in the integrity of free and fair elections in our history. Never before have we decided who gets to count, count, what votes count.

Some state legislators want to make it harder for you to vote. And if you vote, they want to be able to tell you your vote doesn’t count for any reason they make up. They want the ability to reject the final count and ignore the will of the people if their preferred candidate loses.

They’re trying, not only targeting people of color, they’re targeting voters of all races and backgrounds. With a simple target, who did not vote for them? That’s the target. It’s unconscionable. I mean, really, I it’s hard to declare just how critical this is. It’s simply unconscionable. We’ve got to shore up our election system and address the threats of election of subversion, not just from abroad, which I spent time with Putin talking about, but from home.

We must ask those who represent us at the federal, state and local levels, “Will you deny the will of the people? Will you ignore their voices?” We have to ask, “Are you on the side of truth or lies, fact or fiction, justice or injustice. Democracy or Autocracy?” That’s what it’s coming down to.

Which is bringing me to perhaps the most important thing we have to do. We have to forge a coalition of Americans of every background and political party, the advocates, the students, the faith leaders, the labor leaders, the business executives to raise the urgency of this moment. Because as much as people know they’re screwing around with the election process. I don’t think that most people think this is about who gets to count what vote counts. Literally, not figuratively.

You vote for certain electors to vote for somebody for president. A State legislature comes along, under their proposal, and they said, “No, we don’t like those electors, we’re going to appoint other electors who are going to vote for the other guy or other woman.”

Because here’s the deal, in 2020 democracy was put to a test. First by the pandemic, then by a desperate attempt to deny the reality of the results of the election. And then, via violent and deadly insurrection on the Capitol, the Citadel of our democracy.

I’ve been around a long time in public life. I thought I’d seen it all, or most of it all, but I never thought I’d see that for real. And in spite of what you see on television and you saw it, you have Senators saying it was just a day at the Capitol, just people visiting the Capitol.

Folks, we met the test. Because of the extraordinary courage of election officials, many of them Republicans, our court system and those brave Capitol police officers, because of them democracy held.

Look how close it came, I mean for real, how close it came. We’re going to face another test in 2022, a new wave of unprecedented voter suppression and raw and sustained election subversion. We have to prepare now.

As I’ve said time and again, no matter what you can never stop the American people from voting. They will decide, and the power must always be with the people. That’s why just like we did in 2020, we have to prepare for 2022. We’ll engage in an all out effort to educate voters about the changing laws, register them to vote and then get them vote out.

We’ll encourage people to run for office themselves at every level, we’ll be asking my Republican friends in Congress and states and cities and counties to stand up for God’s sake and help prevent this concerted effort to undermine our elections and the sacred right to vote.

Have you no shame? Whether it’s stopping foreign interference in our elections, or the spread of disinformation from within, we have to work together. Vice President Harris and I, we’re making it clear that there’s real peril in making raw power, rather than the idea of liberty, the centerpiece of the common life.

The founders understood this. The women of Seneca Falls understood this. The brave heroic foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement understood this. So must we. This isn’t about Democrats or Republicans, it’s literally about who we are as Americans. It’s that basic.

It’s about the kind of country we want today, a kind of country we want for our children and grandchildren tomorrow. And quite frankly, the whole world is watching.

Folks, I’m not being sentimental. I’m not preaching to you. I’m just giving it to you straight, as I promised I would always do. Lay things out on the line and honor your trust with trust. So hear me clearly, there’s an unfolding assault taking place in America today, an attempt to suppress and subvert the right to vote in fair and free elections. An assault on democracy, an assault on liberty, an assault on who we are, who we are as Americans.

For make no mistake, bullies and merchants of fear, peddlers of lies are threatening the very foundation of our country. It gives me no pleasure to say this. I never thought in my entire career I’d ever have to say it. But I swore an oath to you, to God to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. That’s an oath that forms a sacred trust to defend America against all threats, both foreign and domestic.

The assault on free and fair elections is just such a threat, literally. I’ve said it before. We’re facing the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War. That’s not hyperbole, since the Civil War. The Confederates back then never breached the Capitol as insurrectionist did on January the sixth.

I’m not saying this to alarm you, I’m saying this because you should be alarmed. I’m also saying this, there’s good news. It doesn’t have to be this way. It doesn’t have to be, for real. We have the means, we just need the will. The will to save and strengthen our democracy.

We did it in 2020. The battle for the soul of America. In that battle the people voted, democracy prevailed, our Constitution held. We have to do it again.

My fellow Americans, it requires fair mindedness, devotion to justice, as corny as it sounds, love of country. It requires us to unite in common purpose to declare here and now, We the People will never give up. We will not give in. We will overcome. We will do it together.

Guaranteeing the right to vote. Ensuring that every vote is counted has always been the most patriotic thing we can do. Just remember, our late friend John Lewis said, “Freedom is not a state, it’s an act. Freedom is not a state, it’s an act.” And we must act and we will act, for our cause is just, our vision is clear, and our hearts are full. For We the People, for our democracy, for America itself, we must act. God bless you all and may God protect our troops and all those who stand to watch over our democracy. But act! We’ve got to act! Thank you.

#12

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07.14.2021 03:20AM

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@ILikePie5

I just love this thread. A couple of pages of tangent but no answer to the central question.

DC cop lives matter. Especially if the Oligarchs depend on them as a suppressive tool.

Topic's author

#13

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07.14.2021 03:34AM

We ALREADY KNOW WHO KILLED ASHLI BABBITT
Trump and his sycophants are trying to turn the slain rioter into a martyr—an attempt to obscure their own responsibility for the January 6 insurrection.

Matt Ford for The New Republic

Ashli Babbitt should be alive right now. A Capitol Police officer shot and killed the 35-year-old woman on January 6 outside the House chamber as she and other pro-Trump rioters besieged it. Babbitt was one of five people who died during or shortly after the insurrection, along with three other Trump supporters and Officer Brian Sicknick. Two other officers died by suicide in the weeks that followed.

Among those seven deaths, former President Donald Trump and other MAGA adherents have taken a particular interest in Babbitt. He sent out a tweet-like statement last week that simply read, “Who shot Ashli Babbitt?” Then he suggested at a rally on Wednesday that the unidentified officer’s actions weren’t justified. “The person that shot Ashli Babbitt—boom, right through the head,” he told the crowd. “Just, boom. There was no reason for that. And why isn’t that person being opened up, and why isn’t that being studied? They’ve already written it off. They said that case is closed. If that were the opposite, that case would be going on for years and years, and it would not be pretty.” His allies have followed suit: Earlier this week, Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar published a press release titled, “Who killed Ashli Babbitt?”

The rush to turn Babbitt into a martyr is part of a broader effort among conservatives and Trump loyalists to rewrite the history of January 6—to recast it as a peaceful protest with a few bad apples, rather than a mob of thousands who overwhelmed law enforcement and rampaged through the halls of Congress. But “Who killed Ashli Babbitt?” is actually a pretty easy question to answer: She was killed by the people who keep asking the question.

Before she joined an effort to overturn American democracy through violence, Babbitt led a fairly normal life. A New York Times profile earlier this year reported that she had served in the Air Force for 14 years, which included tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. After returning to civilian life, she worked as a security official at a nuclear power plant in Maryland and then joined a pool-supply company with her family in San Diego.

At the same time, Babbitt found herself drawn to the pro-Trump zealotry and toxic conspiricism that dominates right-wing internet discourse. The Times reported that her Twitter feed railed against California’s leaders on issues ranging from immigration to pandemic restrictions. She shared tweets and messages indicating that she supported the QAnon moment, whose adherents fantasize about a military-led coup that results in the mass execution of Democratic politicians and prominent liberals. “Nothing will stop us … they can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours … dark to light!” she posted on Twitter one day before her death, referencing QAnon slogans.

The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake noted that many conservative media figures, ranging from Lou Dobbs to Dan Bongino, viewed Babbitt’s death as tragic but not necessarily scandalous. He found that things only began to change after a Times columnist noted that Babbitt was a regular viewer of Tucker Carlson’s show, which often indulges in falsehoods and conspiracy theories. Carlson defensively complained about the column on one of his February broadcasts. “But what kind of country is it where nobody says, ‘Well, wait, that’s kind of sad’?” he told viewers. “They shot an unarmed woman. Is that really a death-penalty offense?”
Some far-right figures and white nationalists began comparing Babbitt to George Floyd and other high-profile victims of police killings, perhaps to try to replicate the activism and political energy unleashed by those deaths, or perhaps merely to mock those tragedies. Others have tried to own the libs by wondering why Democrats aren’t raising more questions about this particular police shooting. “If the Democrats and Crooked Media are ignoring the ONLY shooting in the Capitol on Jan. 6th, there must be something wrong with it,” Rudy Giuliani wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

In recent weeks, Carlson’s commentary on Babbitt has become increasingly surreal. The Fox News host played clips from an NBC interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin where the NBC reporter asks if he ordered the assassination of Alexei Navalny, a prominent opposition figure. Putin responds by asking who ordered the “assassination” of “the woman who walked into the Congress and who was shot and killed by a policeman?” Most people would probably see this flimsy deflection for what it was, but in Carlson’s ever-bewildered eyes, Putin’s remark was somehow a reasonable response and a fair question. “Who did shoot Ashli Babbitt, and why don’t we know?” he asked. “Are anonymous federal agents now allowed to kill unarmed women who protest the regime? That’s OK now? No, it’s not OK. It’ll never be OK.” He also recently interviewed Aaron Babbitt, Ashli’s widower, who is suing the Capitol Police to reveal the officer’s identity. “I never expected to lose my wife to political violence,” Babbitt told Carlson.

The attempt to make Babbitt a martyr only really gathered steam once Democrats moved to establish a body to investigate January 6. Republicans took two complementary approaches to the potential political damage that further scrutiny of the day could bring. Some argued that it was time for the country to move on, claiming Democrats were politicizing a tragedy and turning it into a partisan cudgel. Others tried rewriting events in their favor: disputing that it amounted to an “insurrection,” comparing their attack to a tourist visit, and generally painting the participants in more sympathetic terms.

Taken together, Republicans are externally downplaying January 6 while internally rewriting the history of that dark day. They want Democrats and the left to stop talking about it; they want Trump supporters to talk about it more. Some conservative figures have tried to muddy the waters even further, falsely claiming that antifa was responsible for the violence or, more bizarrely, that the FBI somehow organized the riot. Obfuscating the causes and actors behind episodes of political violence is an all-too-familiar strategy for those who sympathize with its goals.

The problem for conservatives, however, is twofold. First, Babbitt’s death is fairly well documented. At least one riot participant captured footage of the shooting while standing mere feet away from Babbitt. Snippets of the final moments of the encounter can be seen on a bodycam worn by other officers who had just arrived behind the rioters. They show an angry mob trying to break through doors and barricades set up outside the Speaker’s Lobby, which allows access into the House chamber itself and where some members of Congress had taken refuge. Officers, their guns raised, shouted multiple warnings to stop, but Babbitt tried to climb through a window toward them.

An officer then fired a single shot, and Babbitt fell to the ground. In April, the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia announced that it wouldn’t press charges against the officer for his actions. “Specifically, the investigation revealed no evidence to establish that, at the time the officer fired a single shot at Ms. Babbitt, the officer did not reasonably believe that it was necessary to do so in self-defense or in defense of the Members of Congress and others evacuating the House Chamber,” the office said in a statement. In other words, it would have been almost impossible to convince a jury that the officer was wrong to think that a violent mob storming the Capitol posed an immediate threat to him or to the lawmakers he was protecting.

The second problem for those asking “Who killed Ashli Babbitt?” is more fundamental: Human beings do not have the memory of a goldfish. People remember that Trump and his allies spent months lying about the election results, falsely claiming that it was stolen from him, and telling his supporters to take action. People also remember that Trump summoned his supporters to the National Mall on January 6, told them the country was in peril, and urged them to march up Capitol Hill to express their anger. If Trump had just conceded the election before January 6, would Babbitt have boarded a plane to Washington to support him? If right-wing media figures hadn’t echoed Trump’s lies, would she have been anywhere near the Capitol on that fateful day?

If Trump and his allies really want to know who is responsible for Babbitt’s death and the deaths of others on January 6, they need only look in a mirror. Hunting for a scapegoat on the Capitol Police force is a misguided way to smother any embers of guilt that burn in their hearts. Their reckless revisionism could also have more tragic consequences down the road. The greatest danger with turning Babbitt into a martyr is that it risks creating more of her: people who are willing to fight and even die for hollow, corrupt lies.

#14

Debates: 4

Posts: 22,927

07.14.2021 03:42AM

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@ILikePie5

The Halo on the statue of AB should be just as large as the halo on the statue of GF.

Trump should praise the sacrifice of AB as vehemently and sincerely as Pelosi praised the sacrifice of GF.

After all, politics is all about human sacrifice according to Pelosi. The Aztecs are in full force in 2021.

#15

Debates: 2

Posts: 12,493

07.14.2021 04:01AM

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@Greyparrot

The people with 14,000 hours of footage not telling their citizens who killed another citizen.

I wonder why. Oh right, because it’s Trump’s fault.

OrANgeMaN bAD

rEEeEeeEEeeEeeEeeE

#16

Debates: 2

Posts: 12,493

07.14.2021 04:05AM

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@oromagi

You really should stop trying so hard lol.

This is forum not a debate. No one has the time nor wants to take the effort to read 10,000 character posts.

Once again, what was the name of the officer who shot Ashli Babitt and why are the Feds covering up his name.

If this were a black man shot during the Summer of Love then there would be Civil War if the identify of the officer wasn’t revealed.

Topic's author

#17

Debates: 117

Posts: 8,689

07.14.2021 04:21AM

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@ILikePie5

No one has the time nor wants to take the effort to read 10,000 character posts.

10,000 characters is 3 pages. We have learned the hard way that 3 pages is generally too much to expect Republicans to handle but Democrats happily consume 3 pages worth of information many times each day. This is also why we use big words around Republicans.

Once again, what was the name of the officer who shot Ashli Babitt and why are the Feds covering up his name.

People with the intellect to handle 3 pages worth of information know I've already answered this question in this forum.

#18

Debates: 4

Posts: 22,927

07.14.2021 04:28AM

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@ILikePie5

the Summer of Love

lol!

Topic's author

#19

Debates: 117

Posts: 8,689

07.14.2021 04:51AM

why are the Feds covering up his name.

People who have read up on this topic already know that the cop in question was a Federal employee but did not report to the executive branch. The White House doesn't have this guy's name.

This officer reports to Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House but any Congressperson who gives a shit about the police that protect them also know this guy's name. You should ask yourself why so many Republican Senators and Reps are keeping that information from Trump (if indeed they are, I've already said I'm skeptical on that point. I think you are just falling for another one of Trump's sideshows). Also, any Fox reporters who work at the Capitol already know who this guy is- why is Fox News playing this game on Trump's behalf?

#20

Debates: 4

Posts: 22,927

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNgIpBPiayo

07.14.2021 05:20AM

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@ILikePie5

The moral of the story is that Police suck unless they are protecting elite oligarchs in DC. Then and ONLY then they are not systemic racist murderers.

#21

Debates: 22

Posts: 11,263

07.14.2021 05:59AM

Should have stayed at home.

#22

Debates: 4

Posts: 22,927

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z0uDkWadSI

07.14.2021 06:27AM

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@zedvictor4

#23

Debates: 22

Posts: 11,263

07.14.2021 06:38AM

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@Greyparrot

Yep...Should have stayed at home.

#24

Wylted

Debates: 34

Posts: 5,754

Wylted

07.14.2021 12:26PM

Do you think babbit was a legitimate threat to those politicians? Honestly nobody was. It was boomer q tards who honestly would have just shouted at them. You know politicians used to actually just talk to people instead of retardedly putting on masks and cowering at upset crowds of largely law abiding citizens

#25

FLRW

Debates: 0

Posts: 5,112

FLRW

07.14.2021 12:30PM

WHO KILLED ASHLI BABBITT?

Trump?

#26

Debates: 4

Posts: 22,927

07.14.2021 02:38PM

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@FLRW

reeee!

Topic's author

#27

Debates: 117

Posts: 8,689

07.14.2021 04:26PM

The moral of the story is that Police suck unless they are protecting elite oligarchs in DC. Then and ONLY then they are not systemic racist murderers.

Folks reading Greyparrot's posts here and elsewhere should know that Greyparrot has requested special protection by the Mods from me. That is, while Greyparrot is free to make his reply to anything I say with all the insight of a Tourette's episode, always in the company of his little pack of all white, alt-right, one-liner-sixty-niners, he only does so because I am constrained from replying. Travelling in bands is the tell-tale of thugs. Such is the behavior on non-debaters who lack confidence in the words they are saying, who fear ever being called upon to defend the lies they consistently promote. We don't have to wonder if GP stands behind any of the shit he talks- his lack of confidence tells us everything we need to know.

#28

Debates: 4

Posts: 22,927

https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/53387145/and-i-would-have-gotten-away-with-it-if-it-wasnt-for-those-meddling-kids.jpg

07.14.2021 05:03PM

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@zedvictor4

Yep...Should have stayed at home.

those pesky protesters!

#29

Discipulus_Didicit

Debates: 9

Posts: 5,294

Discipulus_Didicit

07.14.2021 05:05PM

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@ILikePie5

14,000 hours of footage not telling their citizens who killed another citizen.

Lots of footage of the riots to look through too. Watch the videos some time, they were all big and bad until that one single gunshot then they immediately pussied out lmao.

Topic's author

#30

Debates: 117

Posts: 8,689