Ashli Babbitt a martyr? Her past tells a more complex story

2 years ago 301

WASHINGTON – The archetypal clip Celeste Norris laid eyes connected Ashli Babbitt, the aboriginal insurrectionist had conscionable rammed her conveyance 3 times with an SUV and was pounding connected the window, challenging her to a fight.

Norris says the atrocious humor betwixt them began successful 2015, erstwhile Babbitt engaged successful a monthslong extramarital matter with Norris’ longtime live-in boyfriend. When she learned of the relationship, Norris called Babbitt’s hubby and told him she was cheating.

“She pulls up yelling and screaming,” Norris said successful an exclusive interrogation with The Associated Press, recounting the July 29, 2016, road-rage incidental successful Prince Frederick, Maryland. “It took maine a bully 30 seconds to fig retired who she was. … Just each sorts of expletives, telling maine to get retired of the car, that she was going to bushed my ass.”

Terrified and confused, Norris dialed 911 and waited for instrumentality enforcement. Babbitt was aboriginal charged with galore misdemeanors.

The onslaught connected Norris is an illustration of erratic and sometimes threatening behaviour by Babbitt, who was changeable by a constabulary serviceman portion astatine the vanguard of the Jan. 6 riot astatine the U.S. Capitol. Former President Donald Trump and his supporters person sought to represent her arsenic a righteous martyr who was unjustly killed.

Trump has called her “an unthinkable person” and helium adjacent taped a posthumous birthday greeting to her successful October. Trump has besides demanded the Justice Department reinvestigate Babbitt’s death, though the serviceman who changeable her was cleared of immoderate wrongdoing by 2 anterior national investigations.

But the beingness of the Air Force seasoned from California, who died portion wearing a Trump run emblem wrapped astir her shoulders similar a cape, is acold much analyzable than the heroic representation presented by Trump and his allies.

In the months earlier her death, Babbitt had go consumed by pro-Trump conspiracy theories and posted aggravated screeds connected societal media. She besides had a past of making convulsive threats.

Babbitt, 35, was fatally changeable portion attempting to ascent done the breached model of a barricaded doorway starring to the Speaker’s Lobby wrong the Capitol, wherever constabulary officers were evacuating members of Congress from the mob supporting Trump’s mendacious assertion that the 2020 statesmanlike predetermination was stolen. She was 1 of 5 radical who died during oregon instantly aft the riot, including a Capitol Police officer.

On societal media, Babbitt identified arsenic a Libertarian and ardent protagonist of the Second Amendment. Her posts included videos of profane rants against Democrats, COVID-19 disguise mandates and amerciable immigration.

Her Twitter account, which was taken down aft her death, was rife with references to the QAnon conspiracy theory, which centers connected the baseless content that Trump has secretly battled deep-state enemies and a cabal of Satan-worshiping cannibals that includes salient Democrats who run a kid enactment trafficking ring.

“Nothing volition halt us,” Babbitt tweeted Jan. 5. “They tin effort and effort and effort but the tempest is present and it is descending upon DC successful little than 24 hours....dark to light!”

Among Q followers, “The Storm” refers to the predicted time Trump would yet unmask the pedophile cabal, apprehension and execute those deemed traitors and reconstruct America to greatness.

Trump has repeatedly insisted Babbitt was murdered, and she has achieved martyr presumption among Trump supporters. Her sanction and likeness present look connected T-shirts and flags astatine pro-Trump rallies.

A Maryland idiosyncratic wounded lawyer representing Babbitt’s husband, Aaron Babbitt, has raised $375,000 done a Christian crowdfunding tract and has threatened to record a suit against the Capitol Police.

Key to that wrongful decease assertion is the contention that Babbitt, a erstwhile subject constabulary serviceman who was 5-foot-2 and weighed 115 pounds, would person peacefully surrendered had Capitol officers attempted to apprehension her.

Aaron Babbitt declined to remark successful October erstwhile a newsman knocked connected the doorway of the San Diego flat helium shared with Ashli and different woman. In a June interrogation with Tucker Carson of Fox News, Babbitt said helium has been sickened by immoderate of what helium has seen written astir his deceased wife.

“There’s ne'er been a idiosyncratic who Ashli ran crossed successful her regular beingness that didn’t emotion her,” said Babbitt, 40.

That is not however Norris felt astir her.

Court records involving the convulsive 2016 confrontation betwixt Babbitt and Norris person antecedently been reported by media outlets, including the AP. But Norris, present 39, agreed to talk astir it publically for the archetypal clip successful an interrogation with the AP and shared antecedently unreported details. She besides provided documents and photos from the clang country to enactment her account.

Norris was successful a six-year narration with Aaron Babbitt erstwhile she said she learned helium was cheating connected her with a joined co-worker from his occupation arsenic a information defender astatine a atomic powerfulness works adjacent the Chesapeake Bay. She yet recovered retired the different pistillate was Ashli McEntee, who astatine the clip went by the past sanction of her then-husband.

“He was telling maine astir this foulmouthed chick that’s connected his shift, blah, blah, blah,” Norris recounted. “Come to find retired a fewer months aboriginal ... they were fundamentally having this narration portion they were astatine work.”

When she learned of the affair, she reached retired to Babbitt’s husband, Timothy McEntee.

“You know, I was trying to support my location beingness together,” she said.

Norris said she tried for a fewer months to salvage her narration with Aaron Babbitt earlier yet deciding to determination retired of their house. Within days, Norris said, Ashli moved in.

A fewer weeks later, Norris was waiting astatine a halt motion successful Prince Frederick, astir an hr southeast of Washington, D.C., erstwhile she says a achromatic Ford Explorer passed her going the different direction.

Norris saw the SUV pulling a U-turn earlier speeding up down her. She recounts that the SUV’s operator began swerving erratically, laying connected the horn and attempting to walk a Chevrolet Suburban that was successful betwixt them connected the constrictive two-lane road.

When the operator of the Chevy pulled over, Norris said the achromatic Ford SUV accelerated and rammed into her rear bumper. She said the SUV rammed her a 2nd clip and past a third, each portion the vehicles continued to rotation down the road.

After Norris dialed 911, an exigency dispatcher advised her to propulsion implicit to the enarthrosis and stop. As she waited for help, Babbitt got retired of her conveyance and came up to Norris’ driver’s-side window, banging connected the glass.

Norris said the unit of the interaction caused her seatbelt to fastener tight, preventing her from getting retired of her car. Within minutes, deputies arrived.

A lawsuit study from the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office obtained by the AP shows Ashli Babbitt was issued a transgression summons connected charges of reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor defined nether Maryland instrumentality arsenic engaging successful behaviour “that creates a important hazard of decease oregon superior carnal wounded to another” and punishable by up to 5 years successful situation and a $5,000 fine. She was besides charged with malicious demolition of spot for the harm to Norris’ vehicle.

Court records amusement those charges were aboriginal updated to see postulation offenses — reckless driving, negligent driving and nonaccomplishment to power a vehicle’s velocity to debar a collision.

Photos from the country provided to the AP by Norris amusement Babbitt’s achromatic Ford Explorer with its beforehand bumper smashed in. The SUV’s grill is besides pushed successful and the hood dented. The rear bumper of Norris’ Escape is pushed successful connected the rider side, with the detached Maryland licence sheet from the beforehand bumper of Babbitt’s SUV wedged into it.

Following the altercation, Norris and a person went to the courthouse successful neighboring St. Mary’s County, wherever she lived astatine the time, and petitioned for a bid order, a benignant of restraining order, against Ashli Babbitt. The resulting judicial bid barred Ashli Babbitt from attempting to interaction Norris, committing further acts of unit against her and going to her location oregon workplace.

A transcript of the order, dated the aforesaid time arsenic the altercation, contains Norris’ contemporaneous relationship of what occurred, arsenic written down by her friend. Norris’ hands were inactive shaking truthful severely she couldn’t constitute down what happened for herself, according to a enactment connected the document.

In the weeks aft the incident, Norris said, Babbitt falsely claimed to authorities that the collisions had occurred erstwhile Norris repeatedly backed her conveyance into Babbitt’s SUV. But erstwhile the lawsuit went to trial, Norris said, Babbitt changed her story, admitting nether oath that she had collided with Norris’ conveyance but portraying it arsenic an accident.

No transcript from the proceeding was available, but Norris said the lawyer defending Babbitt made repeated references to her employment astatine the section atomic powerfulness works and years of subject service, which included deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Babbitt served connected progressive work with the U.S. Air Force, and past successful the reserves and the Air National Guard until 2016. A justice acquitted Babbitt connected the transgression charges.

In February 2017, records amusement Norris asked for and received a 2nd bid bid against Ashli Babbitt, citing ongoing harassment and stalking. In a handwritten petition, Norris says that Babbitt had precocious followed her location from enactment and that she had besides received repeated calls successful the mediate of the nighttime from an unlisted number.

“I lived successful fearfulness due to the fact that I didn’t cognize what she was susceptible of,” Norris told the AP. “I was perpetually looking implicit my shoulder.”

In 2019, Norris filed a idiosyncratic wounded suit against Ashli Babbitt, seeking $74,500 successful damages, and she said she settled retired of tribunal with Babbitt’s security bearer for an undisclosed sum.

By then, Aaron and Ashli had moved to California, wherever she grew up and inactive had family. Timothy McEntee was granted a divorcement successful Maryland successful May 2019. McEntee did not respond to voicemails and messages near astatine his home.

Ashli posted connected Facebook that she joined Aaron Babbitt the pursuing month. Records amusement the mates owned a excavation cleaning work with Ashli’s brother. When a newsman visited the concern the time aft her death, a ample motion connected the locked doorway declared the gathering to beryllium “Mask Free Autonomous Zone Better Known arsenic America.”

In the twelvemonth since Babbitt’s death, Trump and galore Republicans successful Congress person sought to recast the Jan. 6 insurrection arsenic nonviolent — a contention straight contradicted by hours of video footage and the public testimony of Capitol Police officers, 140 of whom were injured successful the melee.

In his video connected Babbitt's birthday, Trump besides said: “Together we grieve her unspeakable loss. There was nary crushed Ashli should person mislaid her beingness that day. We indispensable each request justness for Ashli and her family, truthful connected this solemn juncture arsenic we observe her life, we renew our telephone for a just and nonpartisan probe into the decease of Ashli Babbitt.”

Aaron Babbitt’s lawyer, Terrell Roberts III, did not respond to galore telephone messages and emails seeking comment. But successful written statements to the media, helium has said her shooting “was tantamount to an execution without trial.”

“Given her inheritance arsenic a 14-year seasoned of the Air Force, it is apt that Ashli would person complied with elemental verbal commands, thereby making the usage of immoderate unit unnecessary,” Roberts said.

The Capitol Police serviceman who changeable Babbitt, Lt. Michael Byrd, said successful a televised interview successful August that helium fired arsenic a “last resort.” When helium pulled the trigger, helium said, helium had nary thought whether the idiosyncratic jumping done the model was armed.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia cleared Byrd of wrongdoing successful April, concluding that helium acted successful self-defense and successful the defence of members of Congress. The U.S. Capitol Police announced successful August that they had besides cleared Byrd.

“I tried to hold arsenic agelong arsenic I could,” Byrd said. “I hoped and prayed nary 1 tried to participate done those doors. But their nonaccomplishment to comply required maine to instrumentality the due enactment to prevention the lives of members of Congress and myself and my chap officers.”

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Associated Press analogous Elliot Spagat successful San Diego contributed to this report.

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Follow AP Investigative Reporter Michael Biesecker astatine http://twitter.com/mbieseck

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Contact AP’s planetary investigative squad astatine Investigative@ap.org.

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