The recent lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch on behalf of Aaron Babbitt, the widower of Ashli Babbitt, paints a stark picture of the twisted state of justice under the Obama-Biden era.
On January 6, 2021, Ashli Babbitt found herself cornered in a narrow corridor leading to the Speaker’s Lobby of the U.S. Capitol. Amongst the crowd was Zachary Alam, a 30-year-old with a criminal history. Despite three Capitol Police officers guarding the doors to the lobby, Alam managed to start smashing the glass while shouting obscenities at law enforcement.
Ashli’s military police training instinctively kicked in as she watched Alam’s actions unfold. She yelled for help at the seemingly indifferent officers who stood motionless with their backs to the doors. Frustrated by their lack of action, Ashli decided to intervene herself. She grabbed at Alam’s backpack and punched him squarely in his face.
In response to this chaos, Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd shot Ashli – an act that has been widely criticized as one of the least justifiable police shootings ever recorded on video.
According to Aaron Babbit’s lawsuit, “The bullet pierced Ashli in her left anterior shoulder, perforated her left brachial plexus, trachea, upper lobe of the right lung and second anterior rib, and landed in her right anterior shoulder.” After being shot, Ashli fell onto the marble floor writhing in pain until she was pronounced dead half an hour later at Washington Hospital Center.
As per Aaron Babbit’s suit against Byrd and others involved in this incident, it is clear that there were multiple violations against USCP directives on use of deadly force during this incident. Byrd did not identify himself as a police officer or give any verbal orders before firing his weapon.
For nearly nine months after this tragic event took place, the media showed little interest in Byrd’s identity. It was only on August 28, 2021, that the Capitol Police publicly identified him.
In a subsequent interview with NBC, Byrd claimed that he had saved countless lives on that day. However, it is important to note that the bullet which killed Ashli Babbitt was the only one fired in or around the Capitol on January 6.
Despite all this, Byrd was promoted to captain two years after his interview with NBC. This promotion shows a clear disregard for truth and justice by those in power and their disdain for those who support President Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
This incident stands as a stark contrast to how other police officers involved in controversial actions have been treated. For instance, Derek Chauvin and his colleagues were named just a day after George Floyd died and Chauvin was arrested three days later.
The handling of these two cases highlights the double standards prevalent in our justice system under Democratic leadership. It is crucial for us as hardline Republicans to continue fighting for justice and truth in such cases.