Former President Donald Trump is looking for accountability in the caught-on-video fatal shooting of a 35-year-old Air Force veteran and Trump supporter who was among those who breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
In a single-sentence post on his Save America website, Trump asked: ''Who shot Ashli Babbitt?''
Babbitt was hit once in the shoulder by an unidentified Capitol police lieutenant while she tried to crawl through a broken window leading to the Speaker's Lobby outside the House chamber at the Capitol.
The shooting was captured on video and went viral.
But in April, the Department of Justice closed its investigation into Babbitt’s death, deciding it wouldn’t charge the officer due to lack of evidence that proved the officer violated Babbitt’s civil rights.
Newsmax host Greg Kelly is among the high-profile skeptics of the quick closing of the case — and has been incensed there’s been no interest to delve further into it.
''There is NO EXPLANATION for the media’s Total Lack of interest in this HOMICIDE,'' Kelly tweeted in late April.
''Why did the cop open fire when she did NOT pose a deadly threat ?''
In its April statement, the DOJ said it examined video footage posted on social media, statements from the officer involved, other officers and witnesses to the events, physical evidence from the scene of the shooting, and the results of an autopsy.
According to the inquiry, Babbitt, who was among those who got inside the Capitol, ''attempted to climb through one of the doors where glass was broken out.''
"An officer inside the Speaker's Lobby fired one round from his service pistol, striking Ms. Babbitt in the left shoulder, causing her to fall back from the doorway and onto the floor.''
She died at Washington Hospital Center.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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