EXCLUSIVE: Airforce vet Trump rioter, 35, who was shot dead by cops while storming Capitol had charges of reckless endangerment, malicious destruction of property and tampering with a car on her rap sheet
The protester shot dead by police in Washington D.C. yesterday was previously prosecuted for reckless endangerment, malicious destruction of property and tampering with a car, and was the subject of two restraining orders, court records obtained by DailyMail.com reveal.
Ashli Babbitt, 35, died from a gunshot wound to the chest after she joined dozens of protesters who stormed the Capitol to protest Joe Biden's election victory.
DC Police Chief Robert Contee said four died at the protests on Wednesday – Babbitt shot by Capitol Police, and three others who died in 'medical emergencies.'
A witness to the shooting suggested the San Diego local was shot by police when she tried to climb through a broken window to get into congressional chambers, and another said they saw other protesters trampled by the mob.
Maryland court records show Babbitt had run-ins with law enforcement before – despite being a respected 14-year Air Force veteran, described as a 'boisterous firecracker' by a fellow soldier.
The protester shot dead by police in Washington D.C. yesterday was previously prosecuted for reckless endangerment, malicious destruction of property and tampering with a car, and was the subject of two restraining orders, court records obtained by DailyMail.com reveal
Ashli Babbitt, 35, died from a gunshot wound to the chest after she joined dozens of protesters who stormed the Capitol to protest Joe Biden's election victory
DC Police Chief Robert Contee said four died at the protests on Wednesday – Babbitt shot by Capitol Police, and three others who died in 'medical emergencies.'
Maryland court records show the woman had run-ins with law enforcement before – despite being a respected 14-year Air Force veteran, described as a 'boisterous firecracker' by a fellow soldier
In July 2016 Maryland prosecutors charged Babbitt with two criminal misdemeanours of reckless endangerment and malicious destruction of property, and the traffic violation of wilfully tampering with a vehicle without the owner's consent
In July 2016 Maryland prosecutors charged Babbitt with two criminal misdemeanors of reckless endangerment and malicious destruction of property, and the traffic violation of willfully tampering with a vehicle without the owner's consent.
Police believed Babbitt, then named McEntree, was tampering with a 2012 Ford on a country road in Prince Frederick, a Maryland town South East of Washington D.C.
Though the court records reveal police found probable cause for the two criminal charges, Calvert County court acquitted her of the reckless endangerment charge, and the veteran was found not guilty of malicious destruction or tampering.
The criminal charges also list a complainant against Babbitt: her then-housemate Celeste Norris, 37.
Residency records show she was living with Norris and her future husband, former Marine Sergeant Aaron Babbitt, at the time.
Mysteriously, Babbitt was also the subject of a restraining order filed on the same day as her alleged offences. The court upheld the restraining order against her.
Records showing who filed the restraining order, termed a 'peace order' in Maryland, were not immediately available to DailyMail.com.
Babbitt was also subject to another temporary peace order filed against her in February 2017.
At the time, the 35-year-old was serving in the 113th Security Forces Squadron of the DC National Guard, and had been on at least eight deployments.
Residency records show she was living with Norris and her future husband, former Marine Sergeant Aaron Babbitt, at the time. Babbitt traveled to Washington DC from her home in California alone, without her husband (who is pictured above)
Babbitt was also subject to another temporary peace order filed against her in February 2017
Babbitt was later stationed with the DC Air National Guard from at least 2014, where she moved in with her future second husband Aaron in Huntingtown, Maryland. But Maryland court records show the McEntees' marriage didn't end until August 2018 when they filed for divorce
A Journal from the joint base Anacostia-Bolling in South West DC in March 2014 says she and 30 others were sent that year to 'support the security mission of U.S. forces in Southwest Asia for five months.'
A veteran tweeted that she had served with Babbitt at the time, describing her as 'braggadocious, but likeable.'
'I deployed with Ashli McEntee in 2014,' the female veteran wrote, posting a picture of herself with the killed pro-Trump protester.
'She was a boisterous firecracker, who was always trying to be in the thick of things. Loud, cocky, braggadocious, but likeable. She deployed 9 times, today she was shot in the throat by Capitol Police while unarmed.'
Babbitt was born Ashli Pamatian, and was recorded as living under that name in North Pole, Alaska in her early adulthood.
She joined the Air Force in 2006, first serving at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, Alaska, where she met her first husband, Staff Sergeant Tim McEntee.
A January 2008 photo on the base's website shows the couple with their adopted former military working dog, Sorbon.
Babbitt was later stationed with the DC Air National Guard from at least 2014, where she moved in with her future second husband Aaron in Huntingtown, Maryland.
But Maryland court records show the McEntees' marriage didn't end until August 2018 when they filed for divorce.
In June 2019, Babbitt married Aaron, who served as a Marine from 2000 to 2005 according to his Facebook page.
The bereaved former soldier told KUSI News on Wednesday his wife was a strong supporter of President Trump and a great patriot to all who knew her. He did not respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com.
Babbitt also appeared to be a supporter of QAnon, having posted a series of images to Twitter in early September, showing her attending a Trump Boat Parade in San Diego, wearing a tank top with the conspiracy group's logo and slogan
A veteran tweeted that she had served with Babbitt at the time, describing her as 'braggadocious, but likeable'
'She was a boisterous firecracker, who was always trying to be in the thick of things. Loud, cocky, braggadocious, but likeable. She deployed 9 times, today she was shot in the throat by Capitol Police while unarmed'
At the time, the 35-year-old was serving in the 113th Security Forces Squadron of the DC National Guard, and had been on at least eight deployments. A Journal from the joint base Anacostia-Bolling in South West DC in March 2014 says she and 30 others were sent that year to 'support the security mission of U.S. forces in Southwest Asia for five months'
An unidentified loved one sent Babbitt a portentous text message as she flew to DC for the protest, according to an apparent screenshot from her phone shared on social media.
'Be safe. I cannot lose you,' the sender wrote.
Babbitt texted back a selfie from her airplane seat wearing a 'Trump 2020' mask and wrote 'Tons of trump supporters on my plane!!!! I'll watch my 6' – using the military term for looking out behind you.
A witness who was inside the Capitol with protesters on Wednesday said they saw Babbit get shot, other people get 'trampled' in a mob stampede, and believed they saw a second woman severely injured.
'A second woman died (or came close),' the witness wrote on Twitter. 'It was a very intense situation that occurred after I saw several people get trampled, nearly avoiding that myself.
'She collapsed in the entryway to the capital building and was trampled. Compressions were performed on her but I was unable to feel a carotid or femoral pulse. Several men carried her back to the police line. She was very cyanotic discolored skin due to lack of & bleeding from the face.'
The witness described a terrifying and deadly crush of people in the building, panicking as they fled police.
'I was filming at the edge of the entrance just outside the flow a large group of people pressing into & being pressed from behind into the hallway,' they wrote. 'A large man grabbed from behind, pushed me into the Frey and said, 'you're going in, get in there,' (I think). And I was fought in the mob and pressed into the entry hallway.
'I managed to pull myself into a corner nook against the wall. Moments after, the police inside made a great push outward against the dozens of people pushing inward. Everyone became packed like sardines unable to move against the flow of bodies.'
An unidentified loved one sent Babbitt a portentous text message as she flew to DC for the protest, according to an apparent screenshot from her phone shared on social media. 'Be safe. I cannot lose you,' the sender wrote
The bereaved former soldier told KUSI News on Wednesday his wife was a strong supporter of President Trump and a great patriot to all who knew her
According to her LinkedIn page, Babbitt founded a swimming pool service company there in May 2017 – but soon ran into more legal trouble
They added: 'At this point, the police and citizens began unleashing a sea of spray mace from both sides. It was nearly impossible to breathe or keep from panicking.
'The man next to me passed out but remained standing due to how tightly we were packed. I slapped his face and he revived. About this time, the woman collapsed, the police overcame the crowd, and I began to see people being seriously trampled as people were fleeing.'
A video shot at the scene captured Babbitt attempting to climb through a window into the congressional chambers before she was shot by Capitol Police.
Before her death Babbitt and her husband lived in San Diego, the location of a large amphibian naval base.
According to her LinkedIn page, Babbitt founded a swimming pool service company there in May 2017 – but soon ran into more legal trouble.
In December that year she and her company were slapped with a $23,074 lien by a court in Westchester County, New York, after she was sued by one of her clients, data analytics firm Funding Metrics LLC.
Babbitt and her company were again sued by Florida-based firm EBF Partners in February 2018 after allegedly taking out a $45,000 loan against her future business revenue, then failing to make payments on the loan.
The lawsuit resulted in a default judgement against her and another lien in July 2019 after she failed to comply with court rules and pay sanctions against her in the case.
According to the loan agreement, the pool cleaning business was founded in 2000 and made annual sales of over $670,000.
Babbitt was pronounced dead at the hospital after she was shot in the chest when she tried to clamber through a barricaded entrance as police faced off with hundreds of MAGA supporters inside the legislature.
Babbitt's husband told KUSI she was a 14-year veteran who served four tours with USAF in the Middle East as a 'high level security official,' and described her as a fervent Trump supporter who was 'a great patriot to all who knew her.'
Republican Congressman Markwayne Mullin, of Oklahoma, witnessed the shooting and told ABC Thursday the US Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Babbitt 'didn't have a choice' but to open fire.
Video showed Babbitt climbing through a broken window seconds before she was shot
A witness looks down at Babbitt collapsed on the ground in shock seconds after she was shot
The officer involved in the shooting has been placed on leave pending an investigation, the US Capitol PD confirmed in a statement Thursday.
Newly surfaced footage of the fatal incident shows Babbitt and a group of Trump supporters attempting to force their way through double doors which had been barricaded after hundreds poured through the hallways of the Capitol to demand Biden's election be overturned.
Members of the group are seen attempting to smash windows and physically push through the doors as a number of armed officers stand guard on the other side, with their guns drawn.
As Babbitt can be seen attempting to climb up through a broken window, one rioter shouts 'He's got a gun' but the warning comes too late. The officer then fires a single shot, sending the veteran crashing down to the ground on her back.
A number of shocked on-lookers are heard shouting as the video cuts out. A second clip shows blood pouring from her mouth as protesters scramble around her and officers with rifles move in to secure the hallway, telling the rioters to get on the ground.
After Babbitt's death, her mother-in-law told Fox5 she 'really wasn't sure' why she decided the attend the DC protest, but posts on her social media accounts have helped to provide a clearer idea.
The 35-year-old regularly vocalized her support for Trump on Twitter. While she seldom tweeting herself, she often re-shared posts from conservative and right-wing figures, including Michael Flynn, Jack Posobiec and Lin Wood.
On the day before her death, on January 5, Babbitt had replied to a tweet regarding flights allegedly being cancelled to DC, despite there being 'no bad weather'.
'Nothing will stop us,' she responded in one of her final posts. 'They can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours….dark to light!'
Babbitt also appeared to be a supporter of QAnon, having posted a series of images to Twitter in early September, showing her attending a Trump Boat Parade in San Diego, wearing a tank top with the conspiracy group's logo and slogan on it.
In a post shared to their pool services company's 'Inspiration' tab on Veteran's Day, a post read: 'A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with freedom. Happy Veterans Day from all of us at Fowler’s Pool Service
Other posts to her social media page indicate as though she supported conspiracies that Chief Justice Roberts and other high profile politicians in DC engaged in pedophilia. She also referred to California's lockdown orders as 'Commie bulls***' in December, and referred to the COVID-19 pandemic as a 'f***ing joke'.
In September, she wrote, 'Trump 2020 landslide! Let freedom ring!'
Babbitt also posted a chain of videos on Twitter in 2018, expressing anger over California's Democratic politicians in a rant about immigration at San Diego's southern border, accusing them of 'refusing to choose America' over their political party.
'I’m driving right now but I’m like really heated all of a sudden,' she begins, 'I am so sick of these politicians in this god damned state, they’re all worried about what Trump is doing. How about we worry about what the hell you’re doing?
'Maxine Waters, what have you done? You’re talking about, oh this thing at the border, it’s a political ploy that Trump’s done. Where are you? You’re not even here!'
Babbit, growing more irate, then calls out a host of other elected officials in the Golden State, including Kamala Harris, Ted Lieu, Jerry Brown, and Gavin Newsom, telling them she was 'putting you all on notice'.
'Our economy is going to take an absolute tank because you guys refuse to choose America over your stupid political party,' she said. 'You can consider yourself put on notice, me and the American people. I am so tired of this. I am woke, man. This is absolutely unbelievable. Get your s*** together. Thank you.'
Her last posts to Twitter heavily referenced the January 6 protest. On January 1 Babbitt responded to a user asking, 'When do we start winning?' to which she responded, 'Jan 6, 2021,' with an American flag and hang five emoji.