The Capitol Lieutenant who shot dead MAGA rioter Ashli Babbitt has described his confusion in the moments before he opened fire during the January 6 siege.
Details from the veteran officer’s account of the fatal shooting were revealed for the first time Sunday in a report by The New York Times.
Late Air Force veteran Babbitt, 35, was killed as she tried to climb through a broken window to get into congressional chambers, after breaking into the federal building with a mob of pro-Trump rioters earlier this month.
The unnamed cop who fired the deadly shot claims to have not known there had been three cops guarding the door. He says he had only seen the crowd advancing towards him in the moments before Babbitt’s death at around 2:30pm.
Footage shows the three cops guarding the door had no visible shields or riot gear.
The officer, who was put on leave pending an investigation, also claims he did not know a tactical team was on its was to help clear out the rioters.
Footage shows as the three cops guarding the door appear to make way for this team, with one saying: ‘They’re ready to roll.’
But that leaves the door completely unguarded as the rioters continue to try and break down the doors. The officer who shot at Babbit has told officials he did not know if any of those in the crowd were armed as he fired his single shot.
He also said he had no advance planning on how to deal with such a charge on the building. Babbitt and the crowd she joined had been heading for the passage that was being used to evacuate the House floor.
The officer said he had used tables and chairs to barricade the door to the highly restricted area and said he had 31 rounds in his gun. The officer said he also thought he heard that shots had been fired elsewhere in the Capitol earlier in the siege.
Footage shows as the three cops guarding the door appear to make way for the back up tactical team, with one saying: ‘They’re ready to roll.’ That leaves the door completely unguarded as the rioters continue to try and break down the doors
The mob was seen smashing windows and pushing at the doors while armed officers stood guard with their guns drawn on the other side. Babbitt was then seen trying to clamber through a smashed window to enter the chamber as a fellow rioter shouted ‘he’s got a gun’
A gunshot then rung out and the 35-year-old fell back out from the window onto the ground
Officers were later seen tending to the bleeding woman on the floor of the Capitol building before she was taken to hospital where she succumbed to her injuries later that day
Christopher Ray Grider, 39, of Eddy, Texas told local outlets that he was just a few feet when Babbitt was shot.
He was later accused of willful depredation of federal property, remaining in a restricted area unlawfully, and violent entry in the January 6 riot.
Chad Barrett Jones, 42, of Coxs Creek, Kentucky, was charged with assault on a federal officer, certain acts during a civil disorder, destruction of government property over $1,000, obstruction of justice, unlawful entry on restricted building or grounds, violent entry, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
According to an affidavit, the FBI received a public tip identifying Jones through images taken from the video in which Babbitt was shot.
The officer said he had used tables and chairs to barricade the door to the highly restricted area and said he had 31 rounds in his gun. The officer said he thought he heard that shots had been fired elsewhere in the Capitol before the fatal shooting
Thomas Baranyi, 28, also allegedly featured in a widely circulated interview filmed in the aftermath of the death of 35-year-old Babbitt. Federal agents viewed footage of Babbitt’s shooting and saw a man wearing the same blue Giants sweater and black baseball cap standing beside her.
Baranyi has been charged for his alleged role in the riot.
The mob was seen smashing windows and pushing at the doors while armed officers stood guard with their guns drawn on the other side.
Babbitt was then seen trying to clamber through a smashed window to enter the chamber as a fellow rioter shouted ‘he’s got a gun’.
Late Air Force veteran Babbit was killed as she tried to climb through a broken window to get into congressional chambers, after breaking into the federal building with a mob of pro-Trump rioters earlier this month
She is said to have told officers: ‘Just open the door. They’re not gonna stop.’
A single gunshot then rung out and the 35-year-old fell back out from the window onto the ground.
Officers were later seen tending to the bleeding woman on the floor of the Capitol building before she was taken to hospital where she succumbed to her injuries later that day.
Babbitt’s husband Aaron paid tribute to his wife, who served 14 years in the Air Force, as a staunch Trump supporter who was ‘a great patriot to all who knew her.’
He said: ‘She didn’t have any weapons on her, I don’t know why she had to die in the People’s House. She was voicing her opinion and she got killed for it.’
DailyMail.com exclusively reported Thursday that Babbitt had a significant rap sheet that included reckless endangerment, malicious destruction of property and tampering with a car, and that she was the subject of two restraining orders.
She also had a three-way relationship with her husband with a 29-year-old bartender. Kayla Joyce lived with the married couple in San Diego.
Kayla told New York Magazine that she learned of her girlfriend’s death on TV.
‘I actually saw it first on video when I was on the phone with multiple hospitals trying to find her,’ the 29-year-old said. ‘We found out through the news. Through live television.
‘We were trying to get in touch with her once this sh*t was all over the media. We were trying to call and trying to call, and nothing. Her location services were off. We just couldn’t find her, and finally we saw the live video of her.’
The FBI identified Thomas Baranyi as this man pictured shortly after Babbitt was shot dead
Ashli was a decorated Air Force veteran, serving as a Security Forces Controller from 2004 to 2008, before moving to the Air Force Reserve from 2008 to 2010 and then the Air National Guard from 2010 to November 2016 when she left the forces, an Air Force spokeswoman told DailyMail.com.
‘Our records indicate that she deployed on multiple occasions,’ the spokeswoman said. ‘Overseas deployments included deployments to Afghanistan in 2005, Iraq in 2006, and the United Arab Emirates in 2012 and 2014.’
Chad Barrett Jones, 42, of Coxs Creek, Kentucky, is accused of trying to smash the windows of the door where Babbitt was shot with a long, wooden flagpole
Ashli’s 12 medals and ribbons included the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with Gold Border and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.
Babbitt was one of five people killed in the violent riot on the seat of the US government that sent shockwaves around the world.
Three others were also Trump supporters while one was an on-duty cop who died trying to defend the Capitol from attack.
Roseanne Boyland, 34, was ‘trampled in the Rotunda’, her family told DailyMail.com Thursday after police said she had been potentially ‘crushed’ in the mob.
Kevin Greeson, 55, from Alabama suffered a heart attack ‘in the midst of the excitement’, according to his family.
Benjamin Phillips, 50, a computer programmer from Pennsylvania, died after suffering a stroke.
The death count then rose to five Thursday when authorities announced that Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick had died from injuries sustained in the attack.
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