The mother of the woman killed by U.S. Capitol Police on Jan. 6 called her daughter’s death a murder and said it was an outrage that the Defense Department did not allow Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt to be buried with the military honors usually accorded all honorably discharged personnel.
Micki Witthoeft said she was told by an Air Force colonel that Babbitt, 35, would be denied a military funeral because of her daughter’s participation in the Jan. 6 protest at the U.S. Capitol.
”Somebody from the Air Force decided that because of her participation in Jan. 6, she would not be eligible. It doesn’t seem fair,” Witthoeft said on Newsmax‘s ”Greg Kelly Reports” on Thursday. ”It’s just an outrage. It’s an outrage. Like so many other things.
”You know, my daughter was a proud patriot protesting and not an insurrectionist. And I just think that narrative should cease to be pushed forward for any of our political prisoners. My daughter especially, included.”
A recording at the Air Force’s public affairs office at the Pentagon said the phone number could not accept messages.
Babbitt was shot and killed by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd as she and others were attempting to enter an inner chamber of the Capitol. Reports indicated the unarmed Babbitt was crawling through a broken window next to a door. The Department of Justice and the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington both declined to bring charges in the case.
Regardless, Witthoeft, wearing a white T-shirt with the words ”Justice for Ashli,” dismissed the official findings.
”My daughter was funny, vivacious, full of life. I miss her every day,” she said. ”Not only did I lose a daughter, this country lost a proud patriot that day.
”But like so many other people, I just know, that it was murder. I know my daughter was murdered. I know my daughter didn’t see lieutenant, I won’t say his name. I know my daughter didn’t see the officer behind where he was hiding.”
Five people died in connection with the Jan. 6 protest at the Capitol: Babbitt, three demonstrators who died of either a drug overdose or heart disease, and a police officer who had a stroke on Jan. 7.
Witthoeft thanked Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., and former President Donald Trump for bringing attention to her daughter’s death and said that at least some justice would provide freedom for those imprisoned for their participation in the protest.
”People ask me what justice for Ashli looks like. And I would say, you know, reform to the Capitol Police. I would like to say changes in the laws, changes in the way we vote. You know, my daughter died for a cause she believed in,” Witthoeft said before needing to pause.
”My daughter believed enough in the fact that the election was stolen to go to Washington, D.C., with so many other patriots that are there that are still suffering.
”And I feel like they tried to squash a movement that day, but I feel like they’ve made my daughter’s voice louder. But there are people still in jail suffering, and everybody in this country knows that that’s not right. Some of them are in jail for a little more than carrying a flag.”
Via Newsmax
