The husband of Ashli Babbitt, Aaron, called out the Jan. 6 committee Friday for not mentioning his late wife’s name at Thursday’s hearings.
Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, died after a police officer shot her in the left shoulder and neck after she attempted to crawl through a barricaded section of the Capitol outside the Speaker’s lobby. The officer was later identified as Lt. Michael Byrd in an NBC interview with Lester Holt in August, 2021.
Aaron told Fox News host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson that Republican Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a member of the committee, publicly donated $200 to Byrd. He then said members of the committee refused to answer former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani when he asked if Babbitt would be discussed at the hearings.
“I truly believe in my heart that they know it’s murder,” he said. “They can’t admit to it, so they have to just bypass it and blow by it and just act like it never happened.”
The committee hearings were held Thursday and aired live on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC. Members of the committee played surveillance footage, audio and clips of interviews conducted with government and former Trump administration officials.
Carlson asked if Kinzinger or Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham called him to express their condolences over his wife’s death. (RELATED: Ashli Babbitt’s Husband And Lawyer Speak Out On Lawsuit To Identify Capitol Police Officer Who Shot Her)
“No, I’ve never received a call from anybody from Congress. We do have members of Congress that are openly helping us and championing us, but I have not received any phone calls regarding the death of my wife other than Jan. 6, Darrell Issa called me that night,” Babbitt said.
Carlson pointed to evidence finding that Babbitt did not pose a threat and attempted to prevent others from threatening officers and others inside the Capitol building. Aaron said his wife pleaded with rioters to stop and diffuse the situation.
“It appears to me that way,” Babbitt replied. “Everybody was caught up in the emotion and energy that day, but I know my wife and I could see the change in her demeanor once things started getting hectic at those doors, once she started — what we now know are bad actors — breaking down those doors and breaking down those windows, I specifically hear her and I urge everybody to listen to it. She’s yelling at them to stop. ‘No, don’t. Wait.’ And I could see the agitation on her. The police moved and it turned chaotic and [it’s] very confusing for somebody that was not there causing violence.”
Aaron was not present at the Capitol riot and had previously told local news outlet Fox 5 Washington D.C. that his wife was a supporter of former President Donald Trump. He filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act demanding to obtain footage documents and witness testimonies of the incident and to identify the officer who shot her in June 2021.
