OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Rep. Lauren Boebert took time out during a House hearing on Tuesday to hug the still-grieving mother of Ashli Babbitt, the only person to have been killed by direct action during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol Building.
Babbitt, an unarmed Air Force veteran and a supporter of former President Donald Trump, was shot and killed by a plainclothes Capitol Police officer, Lt. Michael Byrd, as she attempted to climb through a broken window into an anteroom outside the House chamber.
CSPAN was broadcasting the House Oversight Committee hearing when the embrace occurred but did not show it. However, photos of the encounter between Boebert and Babbitt’s mother, Micki Witthoeft, were posted to Twitter by an ABC News reporter.
Rep. Lauren Boebert just walked over to hug Ashi Babbitt’s mom during the meeting https://t.co/7ZA45VWOM0 pic.twitter.com/YvWzNv9tdq
— Will Steakin (@wsteaks) January 31, 2023
During the hearing, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) acknowledged Babbitt’s killing and urged the Oversight Committee to end the “two-tiered justice system” she said is being weaponized to persecute all Jan. 6 defendants politically.
“There’s a woman in this room whose daughter was murdered on Jan. 6 — Ashli Babbitt,” the congresswoman said. “There’s never been a trial.
“As a matter of fact, no one has cared about the person that shot and killed her. And no one in this Congress has really addressed that issue,” she added.
Civil rights and liberties are important, but there is a clear difference between Tyre Nichols and Ashli Babbit. pic.twitter.com/ARpdJkShZp
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) January 31, 2023
“I believe that there are many people that came into the Capitol on Jan. 6 whose civil rights and liberties are being violated heavily,” she added. “And this committee will — I hope, Mr. Chairman — look into these civil rights abuses because they’re happening in a jail here right in this city.”
“I would like to say and point out that civil rights and liberties are important, but we have to make sure that we crack down on the two-tiered justice system because that needs to end,” the Georgia lawmaker continued.
Earlier this month, Witthoeft was arrested as she marked the second anniversary of her daughter’s death. According to reports, Witthoeft, 58, was arrested for blocking traffic during a memorial for her daughter.
Video clips show Witthoeft being arrested by police as one of a group of demonstrators who blocked a road. Bystanders who watched Witthoeft being arrested hollered at police, saying they “murdered” her 35-year-old Air Force veteran daughter.
BREAKING: DC Police arrest Ashli Babbitt’s Mom Micki for Jaywalking. Watch how they treat this woman, they murdered her daughter… unbelievable… pic.twitter.com/3lH0nSGOd7
— Matt Couch (@RealMattCouch) January 6, 2023
In a statement, Capitol Police said, “The group did not have a permit to demonstrate on Capitol Grounds.”
“The sidewalk was open, and a woman in the group was given multiple warnings to get out of the road,” the statement continued. “Instead of getting out of the road, the woman refused to leave, turned around with her hands behind her back, and asked to be arrested. As is typical for this charge, Witthoeft was processed and released this afternoon after being given a citation to appear in court at a later date.”
On the first anniversary of her death, Babbitt’s husband, Aaron Babbitt, spoke to TMZ about what happened on January 6, 2021, saying he believes his wife would still be alive if he had been with her.
“Nobody’s gonna watch over her or watch her back better than I could have,” he said.
“We never would have been in the Capitol for one…that never would have happened. I wouldn’t have gone in there. That’s not my scene,” he said.
He explained that they both do not like crowds and he was stunned to see her in the Capitol.
The outlet added:
Aaron said Ashli decided to go to DC on January 6 while the two were celebrating Christmas in Cabo in 2020. He then discovered that his wife had entered the Capitol and been injured after a friend called to say she saw Ashli possibly hurt on TV.
Describing himself as a ‘very vigilant person’ he thinks that he would have noticed that ‘something wrong was going on around there” and picked up on signs that the situation was escalating.
‘I’m pretty sure I would have been able to pick that up pretty quickly,’ Aaron said.
Witthoeft appeared with Greene (R-Ga.) on the first anniversary of her daughter’s death and said she was murdered.
“I feel like the Capitol Police need to change the way they do things, they operate with impunity, which I did not know until my daughter was publicly executed,” she said.
“This is not your playhouse or your private domain,” she added in a statement directed to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
