SAN DIEGO – A San Diego woman was identified by her husband as the person who was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon when pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol building.
The husband of 35-year-old Ashli Babbitt told FOX 5 San Diego that he thinks his wife was killed in the chaos at the Capitol. However, he said he has yet to hear from authorities on the East Coast.
In a news release Thursday, Capitol police publicly identified Babbitt as the woman who was killed.
In a news conference Wednesday, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee said the woman was shot by one Capitol police officer with a service weapon after protesters breached the fencing at approximately 2:46 p.m.
She was transported to a local hospital where she died, Contee said.
The rioters stormed the Capitol Wednesday afternoon as Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden’s election victory. Lawmakers have since reconvened to continue the process.
Husband Aaron Babbitt said Ashli — a San Diego native who grew up in Lakeside — spent 14 years in the military between the Air Force and the D.C. National Guard. They now live in Ocean Beach where they’ve been for more than three years, he said.
Babbitt said his wife went to Washington D.C. to take part in Wednesday’s protest, where she met up with friends. He said he sent her a status check message about 30 minutes before the shooting and never heard back.
“She loved her country and she was doing what she thought was right to support her country, joining up with like-minded people that also love their president and their country,” he said.
Babbitt added, “She was voicing her opinion and she got killed for it.”
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