Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma defended the anonymous Capitol Police officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6 during a weekend conversation with C-SPAN.
In a program that aired on Sunday, Mullin broke with other high-profile conservatives, including former President Donald Trump, who have condemned Babbitt’s death and the secrecy surrounding it.
Mullin apparently not only knows the identity of the officer who killed Babbitt, but he told C-SPAN he actually hugged him immediately following the fatal shooting.
.@RepMullin on police officer who fatally shot woman in Capitol on January 6th: "After it happened, he came over. He was physically and emotionally distraught. I actually gave him a hug and I said, 'sir, you did what you had to do.'" pic.twitter.com/qSwZgilMS7
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 23, 2021
“After it happened, he came over and he was physically and emotionally distraught. And I actually gave him a hug and I said, ‘Sir, you did what you had to do,’” Mullin said.
“He was doing his job. He got put in a situation where he had to do his job,” the Republican continued. “And if you’re going to present your weapon … and give commands and they still don’t listen and they still approach, you don’t have a choice.”
Mullin said the officer shot Babbitt “in a manner of self-defense.”
For anyone who has seen the video of her last moments, it is apparent that the unarmed Babbitt posed no imminent threat to anyone.
I was not in the Capitol that day, but the self-defense argument is weak.
It’s especially disappointing coming from a man who represents people just like Babbitt, who was a conservative and a military veteran.
Trump brought up Babbitt’s killing in a recent interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, asserting that had Babbitt been a leftist activist, “it would be the biggest story in this country.”
“Who shot Ashli Babbitt? Why are they keeping that secret?” Trump asked. “Who was the person who shot an innocent, wonderful, incredible woman, a military woman, right in the head?”
“And there’s no repercussions,” he added. “Who shot Ashli Babbitt? People want to know. And why?”
Mullin knows the answer to that question. But he chose to praise the man who pulled the trigger in a kowtow to the Washington establishment.
Another unanswered question, of course, is why Mullin was even at the Capitol that day.