In perhaps his most pointed statement to date on the Jan. 6, 2021, killing of Ashli Babbitt at the Capitol, former President Donald Trump told Newsmax her death was a "disgrace," and called her killer a "ruthless man."
"Don't forget, with the exception of one young fine woman, nobody died on Jan. 6," Trump told "Rob Schmitt Tonight," referring to revelations that other deaths tied to the event were not directly related. "They like to say five people, but nobody died on Jan. 6. The one who died was Ashli Babbitt."
Trump supporter Kevin Greeson died of a heart attack, collapsing west of the Capitol on a sidewalk. Benjamin Philips, who founded a pro-Trump website, died of a stroke, and, Rosanne Boyland's death was thought to have been the result of a riot stampede against police, but it was ultimately ruled she had died of an accidental drug overdose, according to The New York Times.
Several police officers who had served at the Capitol on Jan. 6 also died in the days and weeks that followed. But several of these were suicides. None of those deaths occurred on that day, at that scene.
Indeed, it seems only Babbitt died in the actual Capitol mayhem. She was shot by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd, an officer Trump did not mention by name in his exclusive interview with Rob Schmitt on Tuesday.
"She was killed by a ruthless man that never should have used his gun to shoot her," Trump said.
"I think it's a disgrace. In fact, they wanted to shield him, but he couldn't get on television fast enough."
Byrd's name was withheld from the public – save for some accidental leaks in Congress that were at the time unconfirmed – until the night of a deadly ISIS suicide bombing in Afghanistan last August amid America's hurried withdrawal of troops.
"I saw his interview, and he thinks it was great that he shot her and killed her," Trump said. "And she didn't have a gun. She didn't have anything. There was no reason to do that.
"It was a disgrace. But she was the person that died."
In the days and weeks after Jan. 6, 2021, there were five Capitol Police officers who died, including Brian Sicknick. Although the Capitol Police initially tied his death to the skirmishes with protesters, the medical examiner eventually ruled he had succumbed to natural causes, i.e. multiple strokes the day after being attacked by violent rioters. It remains an open, perhaps unsolvable, question whether Jan. 6 hastened his demise.
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