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The mother of Jan. 6 protester Ashli Babbitt, who was the only rioter at the Capitol Building killed that day, was arrested on Friday as she marked the second anniversary of her daughter’s death. According to reports, Micki 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.
WATCH:
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, 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.”
In August 2021, the Daily Mail reported exclusively that the Capitol Police officer who shot and killed Babbitt was Lt. Michael Byrd. He fired at her as she attempted to climb through the window of a door that led to an ante-room outside the House chambers. She was unarmed; Byrd was later cleared of any illegal conduct.
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.
The first anniversary of the Capitol riot passed this Thursday and Aaron said he was happy to see his Ashli’s name trending on Twitter.
Although he has become accustomed to death threats and hate mail, Aaron wants to keep Ashli’s memory alive.
Witthoeft appeared with Rep. Marjorie Taylor 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 said in a statement directed to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
“These surveillance cameras were put up to capture what happened that day, the American people have a right to see the 14,000 hours of footage,” she said.
“You’re not the queen, Nancy Pelosi. This is America’s 14,000 hours of missing footage. We have a right to see it,” she said.
The Justice Department said in April 2021 that it found the officer had not violated any federal laws and that the officer shot Babbitt “in self-defense or in defense of the Members of Congress and others evacuating the House Chamber.”
“Officials examined video footage posted on social media, statements from the officer involved and other officers and witnesses to the events, physical evidence from the scene of the shooting, and the results of an autopsy,” and “based on that investigation, officials determined that there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution,” it said.
