A woman shot and killed by police during a U.S. Capitol assault by a pro-Donald Trump mob has been named a 14-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force and four foreign military tours, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. .
Ashli Babbitt, 35, had traveled to Washington DC from San Diego, her husband told local station KUSI, adding that she was a passionate supporter of Trump.
Three more people died in “medical emergencies” during Wednesday’s siege of the Capitol, according to Washington DC police chief Robert Contee.
Contee has confirmed to reporters that a woman was shot by Capitol police (a federal police agency responsible for protecting the U.S. Congress), but has not released further details.
Less than a day before she joined Trump’s loyalist protest, Babbitt, a staunch and outspoken Trump supporter of the public, as well as a subscriber to various high-right conspiracy theories, had promised that the insurrectionary movement could never stop. . “Nothing will stop us … they can try and try, but the storm is already here and going down to DC in less than 24 hours … dark in the light!” wrote on Twitter.
Babbitt, 35, was reportedly shot while she and other riot police tried to open a barricaded door in the building where armed Capitol police officers were on the other side.
In video footage circulating on social media, a single shot is heard during an attempt to storm the barricaded door. Other images show police trying to make emergency first aid to a woman lying on bloody ground.
Babbitt was taken to hospital with a gunshot wound, but was later pronounced dead.
Tweeting under the handle @CommonAshSense, Babbitt described herself as a veteran and libertarian. His social media account is full of statements of support for Trump and the condemnation of the November presidential election, which Trump lost.
He also retailed many of the conspiracy theories shared by high-right groups, including one about a vast network of high-profile, powerful pedophiles. Babbitt regularly retweeted controversial theorist and lawyer Lin Wood, a high-profile Trump supporter who has litigated several of the president’s failed demands that answered the election result.
He had also called on Vice President Mike Pence, who has split with Trump in refusing to oppose Joe Biden’s election victory certification, to resign and face charges of treason.
Babbitt’s mother-in-law, Robin Babbitt, told the New York Post: “I’m asleep. I’m devastated. No one from DC warned my son and we found out on TV. “
Everything is “quite surreal,” said Justin, Babbitt’s brother-in-law. “It’s difficult, because we haven’t been officially notified.”
Contee said 14 officers were injured in the assault on the Capitol. One was taken to hospital after being dragged into a crowd and assaulted, another suffered “significant facial injuries” after being hit by a projectile.
Contee reported 52 arrests: five for firearms offenses and 47 for violations of curfew and illegal entry. Twenty-six of those arrested were on the grounds of the United States Capitol.
A refrigerator full of Molotov cocktails was also found on U.S. Capitol grounds. Police recovered two pipe bombs at the offices of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee.
Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a citywide public emergency until Jan. 21, the day after Biden’s inauguration as president.
Bowser called the attack on the Capitol an “affront to our American democracy” and urged city residents to respect the city’s curfew.
“I urge anyone who is not at their place or hotel, and if you want to cause trouble on the streets of DC, they will be arrested,” he said.
Bowser said Trump was ultimately responsible for the violent protests.
“We saw an unprecedented attack on our American democracy instigated by the President of the United States.
“It simply came to our notice then. His constant, divisive rhetoric led to the unpleasant actions we have seen today. “