Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot as rioters rushed toward the Speaker's Lobby. Photo / Washington Post
Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot as rioters rushed toward the Speaker's Lobby. Photo / Washington Post
WARNING: Graphic content
The Air Force veteran killed during the storming of the Capitol was shot as she began to climb through the broken part of a door leading into an area known as the Speaker's Lobby, videos posted online show.
Minutes before she was shot on Wednesday (Thursday NZT),the large crowd of angry pro-Trump loyalists, one carrying an American flag, taunted several police officers officers whose backs were to the barricaded doors. Members of the mob sought to force their way into the long corridor, which is just outside the House chamber where members of Congress were supposed to be meeting to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.
One man punched the glass over the shoulder of an officer, cracking it, while others shouted profanities at the police and at the members of Congress who can be seen through the glass.
The video shows officers who had been guarding the doors into the Speaker's Lobby moving away from the entry.
As an unidentified person yells "Go, bust it down," Ashli Babbitt, 35, wearing a stars and stripes backpack, steps up and begins to go through the waist-high opening when a gunshot is heard. She falls backward. Another video shows other unidentified people attempting to lift Babbitt up. She slumps back to the ground.
The brief moments captured in the clips, posted on YouTube and Twitter, show the chaotic and often violent moments before Babbitt's death. Capitol Police on Thursday identified Babbitt, of San Diego, as the woman who was fatally shot.
The video clips underscore the hostility and confusion just before Babbitt's death. A third video shows the gunshot was fired by an unidentified officer inside the Speaker's Lobby just as other officers wearing helmets and toting weapons had moved up the stairs behind the crowd and had arrived just outside the door. One of them raises his weapon toward the Lobby doors and then quickly lowers it.
The inside of the Speaker's Lobby appears to be mostly empty at that point, and chairs have been stacked against the doors on the inside.
The US Capitol Police said in a statement on Thursday members of Congress were sheltering-in-place as protesters were forcing their way toward the House chamber.
The video captures the moment Ashli Babbit climbed through the window. Photo / Washington Post
"A sworn USCP employee discharged their service weapon, striking an adult female," whom Capitol Police identified as Babbitt.
The videos suggest a lack of communication between the officers, said Mark Lomax, who was executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association, and is now CEO of the consulting firm Lancer Cobbs.
"There were police on the protesters side, engaged and embedded with these individuals," he said. "It did not seem like a threatening situation for the officers."
But the officer on the other side of the door who shot must have perceived a threat, he said.
Demonstrators attempt to enter the US Capitol building during a protest in Washington on Wednesday. Photo / AP
Geoffrey Alpert, a criminology professor and use of force expert at the University of South Carolina, questioned why the officers blocking the door walked away before the tactical officers coming up the stairs took their place.
"That didn't make sense," he said. "Things could have been avoided with them waiting 30 seconds probably."
Wednesday's pro-Trump rampage at the Capitol shocked other countries around the world and led to the resignations of three senior Capitol security officials over the failure to stop the breach.
Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died on Thursday night after being injured during the riot. He's the fifth person to die because of the Capitol protest and violence. Three other people died after "medical emergencies".
Police clash with Trump supporters who breached security and entered the Capitol building in Washington on Wednesday. Photo / AP
On social media, Babbitt often ranted against President Trump's frequent targets — illegal immigration, government mandates to contain the coronavirus and, most of all, his critics.
Her Twitter account promoted mainstream conservative views but also included references to the QAnon conspiracy theory, which centres on the baseless belief that Trump has been secretly fighting deep state enemies and a cabal of Satan-worshipping cannibals operating a child sex trafficking ring.
Babbitt, who identified as a Libertarian and supporter of the Second Amendment, frequently posted unsubstantiated views about election fraud by the president and his most extreme supporters — activists whose conspiracy theories and unflinching support for Trump have attracted large online followings.
A protester yells inside the Senate Chamber. Photo / AP
Videos she posted online show her fulminating against illegal immigration. Her posts were at times profane.
Babbitt appeared to view pleas to wear masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as an affront to her personal freedoms. She backed a recall drive against California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has imposed strict stay-at-home orders.
"Mask Free Autonomous Zone Better Known as America," read a large sign on the front door of a pool service business she ran with her husband in Spring Valley, near San Diego.
* UPDATE: Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was injured while confronting rioters during the January 6 insurrection, suffered a stroke and died from natural causes, the Washington DC medical examiner's office ruled on April 19, a finding that reduces the chances that anyone will be charged in his death.
