The woman, identified as Ashli Babbitt, was a 14-year veteran and a high-level security official throughout her time in service," according to her husband.
A woman who was shot in the violence as pro-Trump protestors broke into the US Capitol has been identified as Ashli Babbitt. An Air Force veteran from California, Babbitt was shot when the law enforcement was forced to pull their guns out in the face of the violence unleashed by the people 'Stop the Steal' rally, according to KVIA.
Babbitt was a 14-year veteran "and was a high-level security official throughout her time in service," her husband said in an interview with KUSI-TV.
Husband Aaron Babbitt added that she was a “strong supporter of President Trump, and was a great patriot to all who knew her." In fact, the devastated husband revealed that he'd stayed at home to operate a business the couple owned so that Ashli could travel to attend the rally that turned into a riot.
Ashli Babbit stormed the Capitol and tried to breach the window into the Speaker’s Lobby, which is why she was killed. Peacefully protest outside, invading a federal building is terrorism. pic.twitter.com/fFBmgoiALs
— Cleavon MD (@Cleavon_MD) January 7, 2021
"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,” Ashli Babbitt tweeted after arriving in Washington on Tuesday night.
As per Heavy, graphic videos that capture the moment Ashli was shot have been shared on social media. She was shot when she was trying to climb through a broken window into the Speaker’s lobby at the Capitol building with what seemed like the American flag tied to her back like a cape. She was rushed to the hospital where she later died.
“I really don’t know why she decided to do this,” Ashli Babbitt’s mother-in-law told Fox5 on Wednesday night.
BREAKING: Family confirms woman shot & killed at Capitol is Ashli Babbit. She owned a business in San Diego w/ her huband who did not come to DC. “I really dont know why she decided to do this,” her mother-in-law tells me. Police have not confirmed circumstances of shooting pic.twitter.com/OOYpNWpMLg
— Lindsay Watts (@LindsayAWatts) January 7, 2021
It was also revealed that there was confusion about who had really shot Ashli to death. NBC News reported that a member of law enforcement shot the woman, according to law enforcement officials. The New York Post stated that the officer was with the Capitol Police. DC police later said the officer, who has not been named, was a plainclothes Capitol police officer.
A man from New Jersey spoke to a journalist and said he was an eyewitness to the shooting. “We had stormed into the chambers inside, and there was a young lady who rushed through the windows. A number of police and Secret Service were saying get back, get down and get out of the way,” he said.
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!
— CommonAshSense (@Ashli_Babbitt) January 5, 2021
He continued, “She didn’t heed the call. As we kind of raced up to grab people and pull them back, they shot her in the neck. She fell back on me. She started to say she was fine, it’s cool. Then she started moving weird and blood was coming out of her neck and mouth and nose. I don’t know if she’s alive or dead anymore.” Latest updates reveal that the Captiol building is in complete lockdown.
Here's the video of the shooting from inside the Capitol building. Please note that it is graphic:
A young woman was just shot in the neck right besides me in the Capitol Building pic.twitter.com/hLQo4IP8J1
— Tayler Hansen (@TaylerUSA) January 6, 2021