Donald Trump recorded a video sending birthday wishes to deceased Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt on what would have been her 36th birthday.
Babbitt was killed when she attempted to crawl through a broken window leading to the Speaker’s Lobby outside the US House of Representatives’ chamber on Jan. 6 when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election victory.
The video was played at a Texas Loves Ashli Babbitt rally on Sunday, where the rioter’s friends and family gathered to celebrate her life and vent about their shared hatred for Democrats.
Trump called Babbitt “a truly incredible person” and described Jan. 6 as a “horrible day,” without mentioning his role in inciting the riot.
“Together, we grieve her terrible loss,” Trump said in the video according to a broadcast from News2Share’s Ford Fischer. “There was no reason Ashli should’ve lost her life that day. We must all demand justice for Ashli and her family, so on this solemn occasion as we celebrate her life, we renew our call for a fair and nonpartisan investigation into the death of Ashli Babbitt.”
In another video, Babbitt’s mother, Micki Witthoeft told the crowd that House speaker Nancy Pelosi can “fuck off and die.”
“They squashed the movement that day,” she said. “They killed my daughter, and they jailed patriots, and they said ‘look what happens when you question us.'”
The Department of Justice already conducted an investigation into Babbitt’s death and concluded that the officer who fatally shot her acted in self-defense and defense of other officers and members of Congress.
The officer was formally exonerated by Capitol Police in August, according to NBC News.
