Who shot dead Ashli Babbit? Identity of shooter not revealed amid speculation it was a Black policeman
The Capitol riots may have ended, but Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed during the pandemonium on January 6 still continues to be a topic of discussion. The Air Force veteran who had 14 years in the service and did four tours of duty was a resident from San Diego and had traveled to Washington DC for the protests. A video shot on a cellphone inside the Capitol shows Babbitt draped in red, white, and blue trying to break through a door when she was shot, apparently once, and fell to the floor with blood pouring from her mouth. Babbitt was later pronounced dead and identified as the House and Senate resumed the process to certify the 2020 election results. With her death now more than a week old, there have been questions raised over who exactly killed Babbitt.
Who shot AshIi Babbitt?
According to conservative outlet The Gateway Pundit, Ashli was gunned down by a Capitol policeman. The site added that it was still unknown whether she had caused any damage inside the Capitol, but was unarmed when she was shot. The US Attorney’s Office in DC has opened a federal excessive force investigation into Babbitt’s shooting death.
The exact moment Babbitt was shot was caught on a viral clip that shows the disturbing moments before and after. The video also catches the male shooter for a brief moment, and speculations are rife whether it was a Black man. While the video does not give out intricate details, it does show the shooter, who Trad News describes as "a rather short, middle-aged man with a sloping forehead and receding hairline. He is also wearing some kind of bandanna or face mask over the lower part of his face."
Multiple sites have speculated if the person who shot Babbitt was Black. While The Gateway Pundit does say he was a policeman from the Capitol, Trad News reported that it hasn't been verified if he was a policeman or part of Vice President Mike Pence's security detail.
For now, it is unclear if the identity of the man who killed Babbitt will be revealed. It wasn't just Babbitt who died in the riots. A 55-year-old man from Alabama was one of the four people who died on Wednesday, when chaos broke out at the Capitol. During a press conference on January 7, DC Police Chief Robert Contee confirmed the man's identity as Kevin Greeson. He explained that Greeson was one of three people who died from the result of “medical emergencies.”
While questions of who killed Babbitt does the rounds, federal authorities have arrested 28-year-old Thomas Baranyi, who said he witnessed Ashli's shooting first-hand. He was charged with disorderly or disruptive conduct, according to NY Daily News, and appeared at the court via a video conference. Although his bail was set at $100,000, he was later released on an unsecured bond. Baranyi previously told a TV reporter he was standing next to her when she was fatally shot inside the Capitol and held up his bloodied right hand as proof.