Babbitt Tried to Stop Attack on Capitol Speaker's Lobby, Video Shows
Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by a police officer at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, desperately tried to prevent rioters from vandalizing the doors leading to the Speaker’s Lobby at the Capitol that day, even stepping between one troublemaker and officers guarding the doors, a video footage analysis shows.
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Video clips appear to show she tried to prevent the attack, not join it.
Video footage shot by John Sullivan, also known as Jayden X, shows that Babbitt tried to stop the violence against the Speaker’s Lobby at least four times before she climbed into a broken window and was fatally shot by U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd. At one point, she was so distressed at the violence, she jumped up and down in frustration.
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“About five minutes prior to her getting shot and killed, all of those officers, Officer Yetter and the other officers in the hall, the MPD cops, they were all joking with her and laughing with her,” Hansen said. “They were having conversations and joking and laughing. Then not even five minutes later, Michael Byrd comes and executes her.”
Babbitt confronted rioter Zachary Alam, leaning in between him and one of the police officers guarding the doors. Alam turned away from Babbitt and punched a window to the side of the officer’s head. Babbitt winces just before Alam strikes the window with his right hand. He later uses a helmet to smash the tempered glass.
An audio analysis of video footage taken in the hallway reveals that Babbitt shouted, “Stop! No! Don’t! Wait!” according to her husband, Aaron Babbitt.
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Babbitt feared for her life, her husband said, so she climbed into the broken window to escape. Byrd shot her before she got more than partway into the window frame.
“The only way we’d ever know why Ashli felt the window was the only way out is if she had been detained by one of the countless police officers that abandoned their post in front of those doors,” Babbitt said. “That did not happen. She was murdered and robbed of the chance to tell her side of the story.”
...
Video clips appear to show she tried to prevent the attack, not join it.
Video footage shot by John Sullivan, also known as Jayden X, shows that Babbitt tried to stop the violence against the Speaker’s Lobby at least four times before she climbed into a broken window and was fatally shot by U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd. At one point, she was so distressed at the violence, she jumped up and down in frustration.
...
“About five minutes prior to her getting shot and killed, all of those officers, Officer Yetter and the other officers in the hall, the MPD cops, they were all joking with her and laughing with her,” Hansen said. “They were having conversations and joking and laughing. Then not even five minutes later, Michael Byrd comes and executes her.”
Babbitt confronted rioter Zachary Alam, leaning in between him and one of the police officers guarding the doors. Alam turned away from Babbitt and punched a window to the side of the officer’s head. Babbitt winces just before Alam strikes the window with his right hand. He later uses a helmet to smash the tempered glass.
An audio analysis of video footage taken in the hallway reveals that Babbitt shouted, “Stop! No! Don’t! Wait!” according to her husband, Aaron Babbitt.
...
Babbitt feared for her life, her husband said, so she climbed into the broken window to escape. Byrd shot her before she got more than partway into the window frame.
“The only way we’d ever know why Ashli felt the window was the only way out is if she had been detained by one of the countless police officers that abandoned their post in front of those doors,” Babbitt said. “That did not happen. She was murdered and robbed of the chance to tell her side of the story.”
