Veteran Ashli Babbitt, 35, was an avid supporter of Trump, his family said.
Ashli Babbitt’s grandfather, one of the protesters who was shot dead by police inside the Capitol, described her as an “excellent patriot” and a great supporter of President Donald Trump.
Babbitt, 35, was among an angry mob of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday to speak out against President-elect Joe Biden’s certification by Congress. She was shot and killed in the chaos and died after she was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Babbitt’s grandfather, Tony Mazziott, told Good Morning America in an emotional interview that she became an avid supporter of Trump when her candidacy to become president began.
“Since he ran for election in 2015, she has been crazy about Trump,” he said. “She thinks he is the Lord’s final coming, I think.”
Babbitt was shot by a Capitol police officer “as protesters made their way towards the Chamber of Deputies, where members of Congress were taking shelter,” the police said.
Videos showed Babbitt, in front of a crowd of people, seeming to try to climb and squeeze through the broken window next to a door frame, while other protesters try to break the glass of a barricaded door, and those around him shout, ” He has a gun “, before being shot and falling to the ground.
“In accordance with USCP policy, the USCP employee was placed on administrative leave and his police powers were suspended pending the result of a joint investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the USCP,” says the statement from the US Capitol Police.
Mazziott described his only granddaughter as an “excellent patriot” and a “loving person”. She also attended Trump’s rallies, he said.
“She served time in the military and is passionate about everything, especially Donald Trump for some reason,” he said.
Babbitt served a total of 12 years in the Air Force, Air Force Reserves and Air National Guard as controller of the security forces and was a senior aviator. Security force controllers are responsible for providing security at Air Force bases, according to military records.
It served in the active Air Force from 2004 to 2008, in reserves from 2008 to 2010 and in the National Guard from 2010 to 2016. It was deployed in Afghanistan in 2005, Iraq in 2006 and the United Arab Emirates in 2012 and 2014.
A Twitter account named Babbitt identified her as a veteran and advocate of the Second Amendment, the Associated Press reported. Comments from the president and his supporters about Wednesday’s meeting were retweeted on the account.
Babbitt’s husband Aaron Babbitt told San Diego Fox affiliate KSWB that she flew from her San Diego home to Washington, DC, to meet friends for the protest. He sent her a status check message about 30 minutes before she was shot, but got no response, he said, adding that she was killed for “expressing her opinion”.
“She loved her country and was doing what she felt was right to support her, joining people with similar ideas who also love her president and her country,” said Aaron Babbitt.
In addition to her husband, Babbitt leaves behind her four brothers, mother and father, said Mazziott.
Four people died in total during the events on Wednesday. A woman and two men who suffered “medical emergencies” during anarchy died in the hospital, police said.
Luis Martinez and Josh Margolin of ABC News contributed to this report.