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Trump wishes Ashli Babbitt a happy birthday and demands the DOJ reopen the investigation into her January 6 shooting death during rally for her family and supporters

 Donald Trump   wished slain   Capitol   rioter Ashli Babbitt a happy birthday and demanded   Joe Biden 's Justice Department reopen the...

 Donald Trump wished slain Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt a happy birthday and demanded Joe Biden's Justice Department reopen the investigation into her January 6 death in a recorded video message on Sunday. 

Babbitt's parents and husband as well as other supporters took part in a Texas Loves Ashli Babbitt rally on what would have been her 36th birthday in Freeport, Texas. 

Trump called her a 'truly incredible person' who lost her life for 'no reason' in a roughly 2-minute video reportedly played at the event.  

'It is my great honor to address each of you gathered today to cherish the memory of Ashli Babbitt, a truly incredible person,' Trump began. 

'On that horrible day of January 6, Ashli arrived at the United States Capitol innocent. She was shot and tragically killed. Today would have been her birthday -  happy birthday, Ashli. We're looking at you and you're looking down at your family and at us.' 

He praised her for her years of service in the US Air Force and publicly pressed the DOJ to reopen its resolved probe into her shooting death. 

'There was no reason Ashli should have 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 non-partisan investigation into the death of Ashli Babbitt,' Trump said. 

Donald Trump recorded a roughly two-minute clip for Ashli Babbitt's birthday event

Donald Trump recorded a roughly two-minute clip for Ashli Babbitt's birthday event

Footage on NewsShare shows the former president's message projected onto a screen for the sparsely-crowded room. 

Babbitt was a fervent Trump supporter who regularly espoused conservative beliefs on the Second Amendment and COVID-19 precautions. 

Ashli Babbitt was a fervent Trump supporter who promoted QAnon conspiracy theories on her social media

Ashli Babbitt was a fervent Trump supporter who promoted QAnon conspiracy theories on her social media

She also shared QAnon conspiracy theories and posted on Twitter the night before the Capitol riot, 'the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours.'

An Air Force veteran who fought in Iraq, she was shot and killed by Capitol Police Officer Michael Byrd when she was at the front of a mob trying to climb through a shattered glass door to the Speaker's Lobby.   

Trump said on Sunday, 'I offer my unwavering support to Ashli's family, and call on the Department of Justice to reopen its investigation into her death on January 6.'

'Like all Americans, you deserve a fair process, you deserve answers and you deserve justice.' 

The DOJ's investigation cleared Byrd of any wrongdoing in April. An internal Capitol Police probe came to the same conclusion in August.  

Video footage from the Capitol riot released months later in fact shows lawmakers just seconds away from being confronted by mobs that day had it not been for the actions of law enforcement. 

Byrd revealed his identity for the first time in August during an NBC Nightly News interview. 

He told host Lester Holt about the numerous death threats he and his family had been receiving but defended his actions as having 'saved countless lives.'

Trump called Byrd a 'murderer' in an early August statement. He said he spoke with Babbitt's mother and widower, and added that she was 'murdered at the hands of someone who should have never pulled the trigger of his gun.'

Babbitt's death has been a rallying point for Trump supporters who think the election was stolen by President Biden. 

Video shows moment woman shot at while storming the Capitol Building
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Protestors inside the room after Ashli Babbitt is shot by Capitol Police inside the US Capitol

Protestors inside the room after Ashli Babbitt is shot by Capitol Police inside the US Capitol

US Capitol Police Officer Michael Byrd revealed his identity as the officer who shot Babbitt on January 6 during an interview with NBC's Lester Holt

US Capitol Police Officer Michael Byrd revealed his identity as the officer who shot Babbitt on January 6 during an interview with NBC's Lester Holt

At other points during the birthday event people continued to fuel baseless 2020 theories and held up Babbitt as a martyr to the far-right.

One video purports to show Babbitt's mother claiming 'they squashed the movement that day' and directed threatening language at the US Speaker of the House.

'They killed my daughter, and they jailed patriots, and they said "look what happens when you question us, look what happens when you dare knock on the palace door,"' she said. 

Babbitt's mother added, 'F*** off and die, Nancy Pelosi.' 

In another clip, posted to Twitter by documentarian Ford Fischer, rally organizer Al Manica played guitar and sang about Babbitt's January 6 death. 

'Democrats that took our love away, you know they shot her, they shot her down. Pelosi. Schumer. Harris. Buh buh buh Biden,. Shot her down,' Manica sang.

A man who appears to be a supporter of Babbitt's displayed a 'puppet' of Babbitt depicted with angel wings and wearing a large cross.

'In honor of patriot Ashli Babbitt, her angel puppet,' the man said, adding the bizarre effigy was 'patent-pending and copyrighted.' 

Supporters and family of Ashli Babbitt appear to pray at the sparsely-crowded Texas rally

Supporters and family of Ashli Babbitt appear to pray at the sparsely-crowded Texas rally

One man brought his 'patent-pending and copyrighted' Ashli Babbitt 'puppet'

One man brought his 'patent-pending and copyrighted' Ashli Babbitt 'puppet'

Since January 6 nearly 700 people have been arrested and charged in connection to the Capitol riot. 

That day, even lawmakers from Trump's own party condemned the mob and even the ex-president for his role in inciting it with his Stop the Steal rally and aggressive language in the days leading up to it.

Seven Republican Senators voted to impeach him in the subsequent trial. 

But months later many GOP members of Congress have accused Democrats of overdramatizing the events have some have even referred to the violent rioters as 'patriots.'

Trump has accused Biden's DOJ of 'persecuting' those who were arrested on January 6

'Our hearts and minds are with the people being persecuted so unfairly relating to the January 6th protest concerning the Rigged Presidential Election,' he wrote in a statement in September. 'In addition to everything else, it has proven conclusively that we are a two-tiered system of justice. In the end, however, JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL!'


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