|
|
Post by Admin on Jan 7, 2021 23:16:45 GMT
Ashli Babbitt, the woman who was shot and killed Wednesday in the riot in the halls of the U.S. Capitol, apparently by Capitol Police, was an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump and a follower and promoter of many well-known radical conservative activists as well as leaders of the QAnon conspiracy theory movement, according to her social media profiles. Babbitt, 35, had come to Washington to protest Trump’s election defeat, her brother-in-law Justin Jackson told NBC San Diego.  Babbitt was an Air Force veteran who was a decorated security forces controller and served multiple Middle East tours from 2004 to 2016, according to Air Force records. She also owned a pool service and supply business with her husband, according to her now-deleted Facebook page. “Ashli was both loyal as well as extremely passionate about what she believed in,” Jackson said. “She loved this country and felt honored to have served in our Armed Forces. Please keep her family in your thoughts and respect their privacy during this time.” Washington Police Chief Robert Contee confirmed on Wednesday night that Capitol police had shot and killed a person who entered the building, but he did not name the person. Though some of her family members expressed confusion about why Babbitt would break into the Capitol, her social media postings offered some insight into possible motivations. Using the handle CommonAshSense, Babbitt’s Twitter account was almost singularly focused on radical conservative topics and conspiracy theories. Among other fringe beliefs, she tweeted about pizzagate, a viral disinformation campaign that falsely alleged a child abuse ring was being operated by Democrats from a Washington pizza restaurant. Babbitt was a loyal Fox News watcher, according to thousands of tweets to Fox News hosts, but she also engaged on social media with the conspiracy news internet news site InfoWars. In 2020, Babbitt began to tweet with QAnon accounts and use QAnon hashtags. QAnon conspiracy theorists subscribe to a false belief that high-profile Democrats and Hollywood celebrities are ritually sacrificing children and that Trump is fighting to stop it. QAnon followers have allegedly committed real-world violent crimes, including murder, and the F.B.I. labeled it a potential domestic terror threat in 2019. |
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jan 8, 2021 4:56:30 GMT
 The U.S. Capitol Police officer who killed an Air Force vet when a mob stormed the beacon of democracy on Wednesday “didn’t have a choice at that time,” a GOP lawmaker who witnessed the shooting said Thursday. “They were trying to come through the front door, which is where I was at in the chamber, and in the back they were trying to come through the speaker’s lobby, and that’s problematic when you’re trying to defend two fronts,” Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said on Good Morning America. “When they broke the glass in the back, the [police] lieutenant that was there—him and I already had multiple conversations prior to this—and he didn’t have a choice at that time. The mob was going to come through the door, there was a lot of members and staff that were in danger at the time. And when he [drew] his weapon, that’s a decision that’s very hard for anyone to make and, once you draw your weapon like that, you have to defend yourself with deadly force.” The officer reportedly shot and killed Ashli Babbitt, a San Diego resident who supported the pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theory. Mullin said authorities ultimately “showed a lot of restraint” and “did the best they could” amid the chaos. |
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jan 9, 2021 5:14:19 GMT
Warning: Some scenes in the video featured in this story contain graphic content. "She loved her country. She loved our president Trump," said Anthony Mazziott Jr., Babbitt's uncle The young San Diego woman shot and killed by police Wednesday during the breach at the Capitol, served our country in the Air Force for more than a decade. She survived several tours overseas.  Her uncle, who lives in Spring Valley, can't believe what happened to his 35-year-old niece, Ashli Babbitt who called Ocean Beach home. "She died at a young age. She did many tours in Afghanistan for our country and shot by someone in our country...." said Mazziott. Video shows the chaotic scene in which Babbitt was shot. In the video, you can see a group inside the capitol building breaking a window to the speaker's lobby. Babbitt can be seen about to climb through the window when a shot rings out. She falls backward as others look on, stunned. She was confirmed dead at the hospital. "She was fanatical, she loves her country and president and did everything she could to get the president reelected... And she thought she could influence whatever was happening in Washington that day," said Mazziott. Babbitt was the CEO of Fowler's Pool Service & Supply, Inc. in Spring Valley. "She had no children. She was fanatical about running her business. She loved people," said Mazziott . Her uncle tell us that she has four brothers who all live in San Diego, along with her parents and grandfather. Her uncle says she was fanatical about our democracy. And for those who are calling her a domestic terrorist, this is how he wants her to be remembered. "Someone who served her country and loved it. And our democracy and ultimately gave her life for it," said Mazziott. He has these final words. "I wish we could all come down and figure out how to get along. God bless America," added Mazziott. The Capitol Police Chief said the officer who shot Babbitt has been placed on administrative leave, per department policy, and the officer's police powers have been suspended. The Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department is also investigating the shooting. "As protesters were forcing their way toward the House Chamber where members of Congress were sheltering in place, a sworn USCP employee discharged their service weapon, striking an adult female," Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said in a statement released Thursday. "Medical assistance was rendered immediately, and the female was transported to the hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries. She has been identified as Ashli Babbitt." Babbitt was one of four people who died at or near the Capitol Wednesday, Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee said. Three other people suffered apparent medical emergencies. |
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jan 10, 2021 4:45:46 GMT
A Texas Air Force veteran has been identified as the MAGA mob rioter dressed in combat gear and carrying zip ties who appeared to exit Nancy Pelosi's vandalized office, as his family reveal he had become obsessed with Donald Trump and had developed extreme beliefs since leaving the force.  Retired Lieutenant Colonel Larry Rendall Brock Jr., 53, was among the violent mob of Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol Wednesday in a riot that left five including one police officer dead. The father-of-three, who now lives in Dallas, was pictured on the Senate floor Wednesday after the group had broken through barricades, pushed back law enforcement and sent lawmakers fleeing for safety.  Images show him wearing a combat helmet, body armor and a vinyl tag with the Punisher skull on - a symbol adopted by white supremacists and believers of conspiracy theory QAnon. He carried zip-tie handcuffs and appeared to be speaking with fellow rioters, several of which were dressed in MAGA caps. Brock, who was in the Air Force for more than two decades and now works for an aviation company, was also seen in footage, shot by ITV News, appearing to exit Nancy Pelosi's office - which was vandalized and looted in the chaos. |
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Apr 19, 2021 21:41:31 GMT
Department of Justice Closes Investigation into the Death of Ashli Babbitt
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice will not pursue criminal charges against the U.S. Capitol Police officer involved in the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Ashli Babbitt, the Office announced today.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia’s Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section and the Civil Rights Division, with the Metropolitan Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division (IAD), conducted a thorough investigation of Ms. Babbitt’s shooting. Officials examined video footage posted on social media, statements from the officer involved and other officers and witnesses to the events, physical evidence from the scene of the shooting, and the results of an autopsy. Based on that investigation, officials determined that there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution. Officials from IAD informed a representative of Ms. Babbitt’s family today of this determination.
The investigation determined that, on January 6, 2021, Ms. Babbitt joined a crowd of people that gathered on the U.S. Capitol grounds to protest the results of the 2020 presidential election. Inside the Capitol building, a Joint Session of Congress, convened to certify the results of the Electoral College vote, was underway. Members of the crowd outside the building, which was closed to the public during the Joint Session, eventually forced their way into the Capitol building and past U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officers attempting to maintain order. The Joint Session was stopped, and the USCP began evacuating members of Congress.
The investigation further determined that Ms. Babbitt was among a mob of people that entered the Capitol building and gained access to a hallway outside “Speaker’s Lobby,” which leads to the Chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives. At the time, the USCP was evacuating Members from the Chamber, which the mob was trying to enter from multiple doorways. USCP officers used furniture to barricade a set of glass doors separating the hallway and Speaker’s Lobby to try and stop the mob from entering the Speaker’s Lobby and the Chamber, and three officers positioned themselves between the doors and the mob. Members of the mob attempted to break through the doors by striking them and breaking the glass with their hands, flagpoles, helmets, and other objects. Eventually, the three USCP officers positioned outside the doors were forced to evacuate. As members of the mob continued to strike the glass doors, Ms. Babbitt attempted to climb through one of the doors where glass was broken out. An officer inside the Speaker’s Lobby fired one round from his service pistol, striking Ms. Babbitt in the left shoulder, causing her to fall back from the doorway and onto the floor. A USCP emergency response team, which had begun making its way into the hallway to try and subdue the mob, administered aid to Ms. Babbitt, who was transported to Washington Hospital Center, where she succumbed to her injuries.
The focus of the criminal investigation was to determine whether federal prosecutors could prove that the officer violated any federal laws, concentrating on the possible application of 18 U.S.C. § 242, a federal criminal civil rights statute. In order to establish a violation of this statute, prosecutors must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the officer acted willfully to deprive Ms. Babbitt of a right protected by the Constitution or other law, here the Fourth Amendment right not to be subjected to an unreasonable seizure. Prosecutors would have to prove not only that the officer used force that was constitutionally unreasonable, but that the officer did so “willfully,” which the Supreme Court has interpreted to mean that the officer acted with a bad purpose to disregard the law. As this requirement has been interpreted by the courts, evidence that an officer acted out of fear, mistake, panic, misperception, negligence, or even poor judgment cannot establish the high level of intent required under Section 242.
The investigation revealed no evidence to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer willfully committed a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242. 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. Acknowledging the tragic loss of life and offering condolences to Ms. Babbitt’s family, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and U.S. Department of Justice have therefore closed the investigation into this matter.
|
|
