Micki Witthoeft, the mother of Ashli Babbitt, the woman fatally shot by U.S. Capitol Police inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was arrested Friday — the two-year anniversary of her daughter's death — after failing to comply with police orders to stop illegally blocking a primary access road to the Capitol area.
Reports say that Witthoeft, 58, had been apprehended at approximately 1:45 p.m. EST for allegedly committing two violations of the Capitol Traffic Regulations — disobeying a police order, and also blocking and obstructing roadways.
Witthoeft had apparently been grouped with a throng of protesters near the Capitol. They were reportedly blocking Independence Avenue, and didn't possess a permit to demonstrate on Capitol grounds.
Upon confronting the group, Capitol officers reportedly "established a clear police line" designed to preclude the protesters from moving further on Independence Avenue.
The protesters also received verbal warnings from Capitol Police, who instructed the group to clear the road, or face detainment.
"The sidewalk was open. A woman [Witthoeft] in the group was given multiple warnings to get out of the road. Instead of getting out of the road, the woman refused to leave, turned around with her hands behind her back, and asked to be arrested," according to the Capitol Police press release.
Following her arrest, Witthoeft was processed and released after being given a citation to appear in court at a later date.
In August 2021, Lt. Michael Byrd, the Capitol Police officer who shot and killed Babbitt, told NBC News that he only acted against Babbitt as a "last resort."
"Once we barricaded the doors, we were essentially trapped where we were," Byrd told NBC News anchor Lester Holt at the time. "There was no way to retreat. No other way to get out.
"If they get through that door, they're into the House chamber and upon the members of Congress," added Byrd.
Friday's incident also comes less than six months after Capitol Police arrested 35 people — including 17 then-active members of Congress — for blocking First Street in Washington, D.C., which runs adjacent to the U.S. Supreme Court building.
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