Rep. Paul Gosar on Wednesday demanded that former Justice Department officials reveal who “executed” Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The Arizona Republican said Babbitt, who was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer through a window of the House chamber, was not armed and was wrapped in a U.S. flag.
“Was the death of Ashli Babbitt a homicide?” Mr. Gosar said, grilling former Trump administration officials at a hearing on the riot. “As the death certificate said, it was a homicide.”
Jeffrey Rosen, a former acting attorney general, declined to answer the questions and refused to identify the police officer who shot and killed Babbitt.
“I don’t want to get into the specific facts of investigations,” Mr. Rosen said.
Federal prosecutors cleared the officer who killed Babbitt from any criminal wrongdoing in the shooting last month. They reasoned the officer, whom they did not name, acted in self-defense.
Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran, was a Trump supporter who unlawfully entered the Capitol on Jan. 6 to protest the certification of the 2020 election results.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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