The mother of Ashli Babbitt, who was killed during the January 6th, 2021 protest at the U.S. Capitol, was arrested on Friday for "obstruction" as she protested the two-year anniversary of her daughter's death outside the capitol.
According to the US Capitol Police, Micki Witthoeft, 58, was charged with obstructing roadways after she and a group of fellow demonstrators appeared on Capitol grounds without a permit and began "illegally blocking traffic" on Independence Avenue and First Street at around 2pm.
"The group did not have a permit to demonstrate on Capitol Grounds," the police said in a statement. "The sidewalk was open, a woman 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." She was later released with a citation to appear in court at a later date.
In video footage of the incident, bystanders could be heard accusing the police of having "murdered" Witthoeft's daughter.
Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran was shot while attempting to enter the Capitol through a barricaded door with a broken glass panel in protest of the 2020 election fiasco.
A Capitol Police officer shot his service pistol and hit Babbitt in the shoulder, causing her to fall to the floor. She was taken to Washington Hospital Center, where she later died. The Department of Justice and the Capitol Police ultimately declined to discipline the officer involved.
In an interview with Human Events last year, Witthoeft described how she was denied the rendering of honors despite her daughter's service to the Air Force."She was denied rendering of honors by the Air Force, despite being deployed four times and injured on her 21st birthday," she explained at the time. "She gave her youth, her ability to have a family, and eventually her life for this country and they deny her the rendering of honors."
