Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House, disavowed the MAGA faction of the Republican Party, which includes Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, by claiming that Ashli Babbitt, a rioter from the morning of January 6, was not killed by a police officer.
Marjorie Greene a Georgia Republican, asserted that Babbitt was “murdered” at her first appearance before the Oversight Committee on Wednesday. She also likened Babbitt’s death to Tyre Nichols’ fatal beating.
This contrast can be attributed to Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, who strangely asserted last week that Babbitt was “murdered… considerably more plainly” than he was after viewing graphic video of the Nichols beating.
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Babbitt attempted to jump through a window-paneled door that rioters had smashed down when he was shot on January 6 during the incident. According to the Washington Post, Babbitt was among a group of rioters who were smashing down the glass-paneled doors leading to the Speaker’s Lobby, which was down the hall from the House chamber where MPs were being evacuated, just before she was shot.
“Look! A gun! Someone yelled, “There’s a gun!” as an officer pointed his gun at the crowd from the other side of the doors.
Despite the warning, someone seemed to pick Babbitt up and let her to pass through the gap the broken glass panels of the door made. She was hit by a gunshot and dropped to the ground. Prosecutors found that the officer’s belief that he was firing in self-defense or to defend members who were leaving the House chamber was justified.
According to Carlson, the attack, in which a mob of people beat police while brandishing pistols, pipes, and other weapons, left 150 officers injured and led to the suicide of four officers, was a “nonviolent election protest.”
McCarthy told reporters on Thursday that he did not think Babbitt was “murdered,” despite the fact that he initially condemned the attack but then absolved Trump for inciting it.
McCarthy was questioned by a reporter last week after Greene’s remarks were brought up: “Do you think Ashli Babbitt was killed or do you think the police officer who shot her was performing his duty?” McCarthy affirmed, “I believe the police officer did his duty.”
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