“Who shot Ashli Babbitt? Why are they keeping that secret? Who was the person that shot an innocent, wonderful, incredible woman, a military woman?” Former President Donald Trump, July 11, 2021
On Jan. 6, thousands of insurrectionists attacked the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Among the insurrectionists was an Air Force veteran named Ashli Babbitt. Babbitt, who left the military in 2016, apparently decided that attacking the Capitol was more important than upholding her oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
The goal of the insurrectionists was to overthrow the results of a free, fair, and secure election, rendering constitutional procedures void. To accomplish this, the mob tried to break into the House and Senate chambers and stop the certification count by any means possible, including violence.
A group of insurrectionists had already broken into the Senate chamber. Babbitt was at the front of the group trying to break into the House chamber. She wasn’t climbing out a window; she was climbing through a broken window to get into the hallway to the House chamber.
If she had made it, she very likely would have opened the hall door. The mob would have flooded into the hallway, overpowered those guarding the House chamber, and stormed into the chamber itself.
There was just one police officer guarding the hallway; others were looking for reinforcements. The officer knew the danger if Babbitt made it through the window. He shot her once, in the left shoulder, not the head, as Trump claimed. He had to stop her from opening the door.
Compare this single shot to police officers who have emptied their guns into suspects. The officer who shot Babbitt showed remarkable restraint when his life and the lives of hundreds of congressional members, staff, visitors and other police officers were under imminent threat.
The Justice Department released a statement in April clearing the officer of any criminal wrongdoing. An investigation showed the shooting was “necessary” and the officer acted in “self-defense or in defense of the Members of Congress and others evacuating the House Chamber.”
As a result of the insurrection, Capitol police morale is low, many officers have retired, and others haven’t been able to return to work. The Washington, D.C. Metro force was also impacted. One Metro officer, Michael Fanone, has described how he was beaten, tased, suffered a concussion and a heart attack, has a traumatic brain injury and PTSD. More than 140 officers were injured, many very badly.
Trump has asked why the police won’t release the name of the officer who shot Babbitt, claiming she was shot for “no reason,” despite her role in the violence. It should be obvious; publishing this officer’s name would place a target on him, putting him and his family in real danger. To Trump followers, anyone who opposes Trump’s wishes is fair game for violence.
Trump validated this view by calling the insurrectionists “patriots” and telling them he loves them. On Fox News Sunday, July 11, Trump told Maria Bartiromo, “These were peaceful people, these were great people.”
He praised people who were there that day to injure or kill anyone they thought was supporting the election results. The insurrectionists made their goal very clear by sending messages to Congress such as “We are coming to kill you. Just wait a few days.” (Washington Post, July 15)
They chanted “Hang Mike Pence” as they invaded the Capitol, and told police officers “Today you’re going to die” as they beat them mercilessly. This was not a “love fest,” as Trump claims. The insurrectionists were bent on destruction, injury and even death.
When Ashli Babbitt got to the barricaded hallway door, she had already broken several laws and been ordered to stop. She refused. After the officer shot Babbitt, the insurrectionists backed off, stopping a bigger bloodbath, saving who knows how many lives. An emergency response team immediately administered aid to Babbitt and she was transported to Washington Hospital Center, where she died.
Those who call Babbitt a martyr are endorsing the idea that overthrowing a free, fair and secure election is not only OK, but patriotic. They’re saying that government by lawlessness, intimidation, violence, and death threats is the way we should go.
I don’t understand why any American would accept this idea, but apparently there are millions who do. This shows their contempt for what the Constitution stands for and what American ideals are supposed to be. And that is terrifying.
Jeanette Strong, whose column appears every other week, is a Nevada Press Association award-winning columnist. She may be reached at news@lahontanvalleynews.com.
