A mob of President Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol leaving four dead.
What We Know:
- Yesterday at around 1 p.m., hundreds of pro-Trump protesters pushed through barriers and police and entered the U.S. Capitol to fight against the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes. As chaos and looting ensued inside the building, multiple rioters and police were injured and four people died.
- In a press conference Wednesday night, Police Chief Robert Contee confirmed that one woman was shot and killed by Capitol police and, “one adult female and two adult males appear to have suffered from separate medical emergencies, which resulted in their deaths. Any loss of life in the District is tragic, and our thoughts are with anyone impacted by their loss.”
- The woman who was fatally shot by police in the chest has been identified as Ashli E. Babbitt, an Air Force veteran from the San Diego area. According to NPR, Babbitt, 35, was a senior airman who served in active duty, the Air Force reserves, and the Air National Guard. During her service, she received the Iraq Campaign Medal, indicating she served overseas in support of the U.S. war.
- Footage from inside the Capitol shows Babbitt among a large group of rioters with a backpack and Trump flag. When she approaches a window, a shot is heard and she falls back onto the floor. A witness told WUSA9 that “a number of police and Secret Service were saying, ‘get down, get back, get out of the way.’ She didn’t heed the call. They shot her in the neck.”
- Babbitt was immediately hospitalized for her injuries but later died in the hospital. The other three individuals who died of separate causes have not been identified.
The violence incited at the U.S. Capitol has achieved nothing other than senseless deaths.
