The woman killed in the Capitol building Wednesday was a California native and Air Force veteran. The President Trump supporter tweeted a day earlier how “nothing will stop us” and “the storm is here.”
Ashli Babbitt, 35, who had 14 years in the service and did four tours of duty, was married and lived near San Diego, her husband, Aaron, told KUSI-TV.
“I’m numb. I’m devastated. Nobody from DC notified my son and we found out on TV,” the husband’s mother, Robin Babbitt, told The New York Post, saying of her daughter-in-law, “She is a Trump supporter.”
Everything is “pretty surreal,” added Aaron’s brother, Justin. “It’s hard, because we haven’t been officially notified.”
According to U.S. Capitol Police (USCP), Babbitt was fatally shot by a USCP employee.
The day before Babbitt tweeted, “Nothing will stop us…. they can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours….dark to light.”
According to The New York Post, Babbitt, who used the Twitter handle CommonAshSense, also retweeted Wednesday morning — a few hours before she and other Trump supporters stormed the Capitol — a “MUST BE DONE LIST before Congress meets today.”
The list demanded, “Mike Pence@vp @Mike_Pence must resign & thereafter be charged with TREASON,” and, “Chief Justice John Roberts must RESIGN.”
The rioters were protesting Congress’ impending certification of Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
Babbitt took a fatal bullet to the chest during the mayhem inside the Capitol.
Babbitt was seen in a viral video that captured the sound of the gunshot, and showed the woman crumpling to the floor from multiple angles. Police officers screamed for the crowd to make room and a voice heard on video declared, “Ladies and gentlemen, a lady was just shot. She might be dying right now.”
Another video clip showed Babbitt covered in blood and being treated by paramedics who moved her on a stretcher away from the building.
Babbitt’s mother-in-law told a Fox affiliate in DC she was puzzled by the behavior of her son’s wife.
“Ashli was both loyal as well as extremely passionate about what she believed in. She loved this country and felt honored to have served in our Armed Forces. Please keep her family in your thoughts and respect their privacy during this time,” her brother-in-law Justin Jackson told NBC 7.
The USCP employee who discharged his weapon was placed on administrative leave and their police powers have been suspended as an investigation into the incident is conducted, USCP Chief Steven A. Sund said.