The Jan. 6 riot in D.C. has sparked heated debates on various fronts, including over the death of one woman involved in the siege on the Capitol building.
Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot by a Capitol police officer who was later cleared of any wrongdoing — but at least one high-profile conservative continues to insist her death was not justified and Democratic leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are only making matters worse.
“Fighting us tooth and nail”
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton explained his position during a recent interview with One America News.
He began by citing the 532 pages of information his group has obtained about the riot through its Freedom of Information Act requests.
“The documents suggest in my view that there was really no good reason for her to die,” Fitton concluded. “There was no good reason for the officer involved to shoot.”
He went on to note that it is far more challenging to obtain documents from the U.S. Capitol Police than it is from other agencies because the department answers to the legislative branch.
“Congress has been a black hole in terms of transparency,” Fitton complained. “They’ve been fighting us tooth and nail in our various requests and lawsuits for information from Congress.”
“Some misdemeanor crime”
While Fitton acknowledged that Congress itself “may not be covered by the Freedom of Information Act,” he asserted that there is “a common law right to public access to government documents,” which is the basis of his organization’s actions in court.
As for Pelosi, he said that she is chiefly responsible for stonewalling Judicial Watch in its quest for information.
“That shooting was handled differently than it otherwise would have been handled, in terms of the secrecy and whether or not there would be an aggressive investigation into the shooting death if it were someone other than a Trump supporter,” he alleged.
Fox News reported earlier this year that Babbitt’s family intended to file a $10 million lawsuit over what it deemed a wrongful death.
In a statement at the time, the family’s attorney declared: “A rookie police officer would not have shot this woman. If she committed any crime by going through the window and into the Speaker’s Lobby, it would have been trespassing. Some misdemeanor crime. All a rookie cop would have done is arrest her.”
The post Conservative activist claims ‘there was no good reason’ for Ashli Babbitt to die first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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