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Was Ashli Babbitt a martyr? Air Force vet killed on Jan 6 stole woman's BF, stalked her

Celeste Norris was in a six-year relationship with Aaron Babbitt in 2015 when she learned he was cheating on her with married co-worker Ashli Babbitt

Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by a police officer while participating in the January 6 riot at the US Capitol has often been portrayed by Former President Donald Trump and his supporters as a righteous martyr who was unjustly killed. However, the life of the Air Force veteran from California was far more complicated than the heroic light in which she has been shown. 

The 35-year-old was shot while attempting to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby inside the Capitol. It was the same area from where police officers were evacuating members of Congress after a mob reacting to Trump’s false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen had overrun the building. Babbitt died while wearing a Trump campaign flag wrapped around her shoulders like a cape. Two federal investigations have already cleared the officer who shot her of any wrongdoing. 

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Apart from a history of making violent threats, Babbitt had become consumed by pro-Trump conspiracy theories. She also posted angry screeds on social media. In a June interview with Tucker Carlson of Fox News, Aaron Babbitt said he has been sickened by some of what he has seen written about his deceased wife. “There’s never been a person who Ashli ran across in her daily life that didn’t love her,” said Babbitt, 40.

Celeste Norris 

However, Ashli Babbit has a controversial past, and no one else is better acquainted with it than Celeste Norris. She was in a six-year relationship with Aaron Babbitt in 2015, when she said she learned he was cheating on her with a married co-worker from his job. At the time, he worked as a security guard at a nuclear power plant near Chesapeake Bay. The other woman was later identified as Ashli McEntee, who at the time went by the last name of her then-husband.

After Norris tried to work things out with Aaron, she finally moved out of his house. Within days Ashli moved into his house. A few weeks later, Norris claimed that Ashli rammed her white Ford Explorer into her SUV three times about an hour southeast of Washington, D.C. After dialing 911, Norris was advised to pull over and wait for help. As she waited, Babbitt got out of her vehicle and came up to Norris’ driver’s-side window, all the while banging on the glass, challenging her for a fight. Ashli, at the time, was issued a criminal summons on charges of reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor punishable by up to five years in prison, and a $5,000 fine. She was also charged with malicious destruction of property for the damage to Norris’ vehicle.

Norris later got a judicial order that barred Ashli from attempting to contact her, committing further acts of violence against her, and going to her home or workplace. In February 2017, Norris received a second peace order against Ashli, citing ongoing harassment and stalking. “I lived in fear because I didn’t know what she was capable of,” Norris told AP. “I was constantly looking over my shoulder.”

Trump: 'We must all demand justice for Ashli'

In the year since Babbitt’s death, Trump and many Republicans have sought to portray Jan 6 insurrection as nonviolent. In his video on Ashli’s birthday, Trump also said: “Together we grieve her terrible loss. There was no reason Ashli should have lost her life that day. We must all demand justice for Ashli and her family, so on this solemn occasion as we celebrate her life, we renew our call for a fair and nonpartisan investigation into the death of Ashli Babbitt.”

In August, Lt Michael Byrd, the Capitol Police officer who shot Ashli, said in a televised interview that he fired as a “last resort.” While pulling the trigger, he said, he had no idea whether the person jumping through the window was armed.