Newly elected Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy said the Capitol police officer responsible for shooting Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6 2021 "did his job."
McCarthy's remark contrasted the perspective of Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was an outspoken supporter of McCarthy during January's speaker vote.
"Do you think Ashli Babitt was murdered or do you think the police officer who shot her was doing his job?" asked one Capitol reporter.
"I think the police officer did his job," McCarthy replied before taking another reporter's question.
"I totally disagree with the Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, in that the Police Officer 'Thug,' who has had a very checkered past to begin with, was not just 'doing his job' when he shot and killed Great Patriot Ashli Babbitt at point blank range," said former President Donald Trump who endorsed McCarthy's bid for speakership in a Truth Social post.
"Despite trying to keep him anonymous, shielded, and protected, this MISFIT proudly showed up on NBC Fake Nightly News 'bragging' about the killing. He was not a hero but a COWARD, who wanted to show how tough he was. ASHLI BABBITT WAS MURDERED!!!"
Greene, who has also been an outspoken supporter of Trump, shared a screenshot of the former President's Truth Social post to Instagram noting she had seen footage of Babbitt's shooting.
"Yes she was inside the Capitol, but the only violence she committed was punching another J6’er in the face after he broke the window," Greene captioned her post. "Not an officer or law maker, she punched a J6’er & tried to stop them, then Byrd shot her."
During a Tuesday House Oversight and Accountability Committee meeting, the Georgia representative compared Babbitt's shooting to recent Memphis, Tennessee case regarding 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, who died after he was beaten by five officers in early January.
Greene referred to Nichols' video as "tragic and extremely difficult to watch," suggesting his death was similar to Babbitt's death in relation to alleged police misconduct.
"I think that the judge and the jury and the trial needs to work out what happened there, but I share that with you," Greene said of the Memphis video, adding "but I’d like to also point something that I’d hope you share with me."
"There’s a woman in this room whose daughter was murdered on Jan. 6, Ashli Babbitt. And Ashli Babbitt has, there’s never been a trial. As a matter of fact, no one has cared about the person that shot and killed her and no one in this Congress has really addressed that issue."
"USCP’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) determined the officer’s conduct was lawful and within Department policy, which says an officer may use deadly force only when the officer reasonably believes that action is in the defense of human life, including the officer’s own life, or in the defense of any person in immediate danger of serious physical injury," the United States Capitol Police wrote in an August 2021 statement announcing the officer who shot Babbitt, Lt. Michael Byrd, would not face internal discipline.
