The mother of Ashli Babbitt, who was killed during the January 6 riot, has called for the Capitol Police officer who shot her daughter to be hanged — along with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Micki Witthoeft, Babbitt’s mother, said to a crowd of people, reportedly outside of the DC jail: “The Capitol Police needs to be abolished, or at the very least investigated.”
She continued, “Michael Byrd needs to swing from the end of a rope, along with Nancy Pelosi.” Ms Pelosi was serving as Speaker of the House on January 6, 2021.
Ms Witthoeft has in the past posted a photo of Michael Byrd on X, formerly known as Twitter, writing, “Today is July 1, 2022 and Michael Byrd is still a murderer profiting from my daughter’s death.”
The Justice Department announced in April 2021 that it would “not pursue criminal charges against” Mr Byrd, as its investigation “revealed no evidence to establish that, at the time the officer fired a single shot at Ms. Babbitt, the officer did not reasonably believe that it was necessary to do so in self-defense or in defense of the Members of Congress and others evacuating the House Chamber.”
Still, Babbitt’s mother has remained steadfast in her views.
In May, Ms Witthoeft was arrested and charged with simple assault — after pushing a counter-protester at a right-wing event outside a Washington DC jail — and destruction of property.
She was previously arrested in January this year in Washington DC while protesting on the second anniversary of the Capitol attack after a group of protesters, who didn’t have a permit to demonstrate on the Capitol grounds, tried to cross a street and enter the grounds.
Ms Witthoeft was arrested on two infractions: disobeying an order and blocking or obstructing a roadway. However, prosecutors later dropped the charges against her.
Babbitt was killed during the Capitol riot, where she was seen wearing a Donald Trump flag as a cape. She was attempting to crawl through a broken window in the interior of the Capitol where lawmakers were still present in the Speaker’s Lobby. Although Capitol police officers warned the rioters to stay out, they continued to push inside.
A Capitol police officer fired a shot at her while she was midway through a window, hitting her neck; she later died at a Washington DC hospital from the gunshot wound.
