Micki Witthoeft, the mother of Ashli Babbit, who was shot by police during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, was arrested on Friday afternoon during a demonstration marking the two-year anniversary of the event, according to police.
Witthoeft, 58, is being accused of traffic violations, according to U.S. Capitol Police, who said she was taken into custody but later released on Friday.
Officials said that Witthoeft and a group of other demonstrators were walking on a street by the Capitol when police told the group to move off of the road.
Police said that officers were in a line to prevent the group from going further.
One video on social media show police telling the group to get on the sidewalk or else they may be arrested. Witthoeft put her hands behind her back and was placed under arrest.
Police said that the group of protesters didn’t have a permit to demonstrate on Capitol grounds.
Babbitt, 35, was shot by a Capitol Police officer while she attempted to enter the Speaker’s lobby on Jan. 6, 2021 and later passed away at a Washington, D.C. hospital.
A U.S. Capitol Police internal investigation claims that the officer’s actions were lawful.
The Capitol Police 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 Associated Press and Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
