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Fox News Host Complains After Pelosi Doesn't Name Killed Rioter Ashli Babbitt As 'Hero' Of Jan. 6

Fox News Host Complains After Pelosi Doesn't Name Killed Rioter Ashli Babbitt As 'Hero' Of Jan. 6
Fox News; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Fox News host Harris Faulkner criticized Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California for refusing to mention Ashli Babbitt as part of the moment of silence for law enforcement who died as a result of the January 6 violent attack on the United States Capitol.

Faulkner, referring to Babbitt, said Pelosi did not count the "fifth person who was also killed that day" as she listed the names of the officers. Babbitt, however, was not law enforcement.

Babbitt was killed by a law enforcement officer as she attempted to climb through the broken windows of the House Speaker's Lobby to gain access to members of Congress sheltering in the House chamber.

You can hear what Faulkner said in the video below

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Faulkner said:

"As I said before the Senate and the House were supposed to hold them [commemorations] simultaneously."
"We don't know if that was some sort of a mistake or just a change in programming or what but on the Senate side, Senator Schumer had just spoken and on this side, she had not quite arrived yet, so he went, the other went, and now it is done."
"One year later, January 6, she [Pelosi] recognized the police officers only, not the fifth person who was also killed that day."

Babbitt spent fourteen years in the United States Air Force before she became radicalized by the QAnon conspiracy theory, which alleges Democrats are part of a Satan-worshipping, baby eating global pedophile ring that conspired against former President Trump during his time in office.

She also often used her social media accounts to promote at least one post calling for a violent uprising that would lead to Trump's second inauguration.

Lieutenant Michael Byrd, the member of the U.S. Capitol Police who shot and killed Babbitt when she attempted to breach the Senate chamber, recalled yelling for rioters to back away from the doors.

Then, in a moment captured on video, he fired a single shot that struck Babbitt in the shoulder. She would later die of her injuries.

In an August interview with NBC News conducted after he gave the news outlet permission to identify him after authorities had declined to do so, he said he only fired his gun as a "last resort."

"I tried to wait as long as I could. I hoped and prayed no one tried to enter through those doors."
"But their failure to comply required me to take the appropriate action to save the lives of members of Congress and myself and my fellow officers."

The DOJ ultimately cleared Byrd of wrongdoing, noting in a press release the investigation found no evidence Byrd had fired his gun without believing it had been "necessary" to do so "in self-defense or in defense of the Members of Congress and others evacuating the House Chamber."

The DOJ has since closed the investigation.

Many criticized Faulkner in the wake of her remarks and reminded her about the actual reason Babbitt was at the Capitol that day.


Babbitt is not the only person connected to January 6 who has been lionized by conspiracy theorists.

Conservatives have also elevated conspiracy theories about the death of Rosanne Boyland, who became a devoted adherent to the QAnon conspiracy theory and died during the attack.

Boyland can be seen on police body cam videos trying to push past the police line on that day, ultimately losing consciousness and dying in the middle of the human crush on the Capitol steps.

The medical examiner found Boyland, a recovering addict, died of an Adderall overdose.

The family believes not all of the bodycam footage from January 6 has been released and more information about the circumstances of Boyland's death can be gleaned from that footage.

They have accused the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of not investigating her death because of her participation in the violent insurrection.