[1][2][3] She was part of a crowd of supporters of then outgoing U.S. president Donald Trump who stormed the United States Capitol building seeking to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

[4][5][6] Despite multiple warnings not to proceed,[7] Babbitt attempted to climb through a shattered window beside a barricaded door into the Speaker's Lobby and was thwarted when she was shot in her left anterior shoulder[8] by a United States Capitol Police (USCP) officer.

These efforts culminated in the United States Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, the day set for Congressional certification of the Electoral College vote count.

[21] In 2004, she enlisted in the United States Air Force, where she served 12 years; while on active duty, she met her first husband, Staff Sgt.

Babbitt was deployed at least eight times by 2014,[22] including in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar; from 2010 onward, she served in the Air National Guard.

Six of her years in service were spent in a "Capital Guardians" unit of the District of Columbia Air National Guard, whose mandate is to defend the Washington D.C. region and quell civil unrest.

[21] In 2016, she faced criminal charges of reckless endangerment in Maryland after she allegedly repeatedly smashed her SUV into a vehicle being driven by a former girlfriend of Aaron Babbitt.

[23] According to her brother, Babbitt became frustrated with such issues as the number of homeless people in San Diego and the difficulties of running a small business.

On July 1, 2019, a judge issued a $71,000 judgment against her pool business for failing to repay a loan; around the same time, she supported Donald Trump and started following and promoting conspiracy theories.

[30] By February 2020, Babbitt publicly supported QAnon, a broader far-right conspiracy theory that expanded Pizzagate's claims by adding the concept of a worldwide cabal of Satan-worshipping child abusers whom Trump is secretly fighting.

[11][36] On January 5, 2021, the day before the assault on the Capitol, Babbitt tweeted: Nothing will stop us ... they can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours ... dark to light!

[37]On January 6, prior to her arrival at the Capitol, Babbitt retweeted messages by Trump lawyer and QAnon promoter L. Lin Wood demanding that Vice President Mike Pence, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts resign and that charges be brought against Pence and Rosenstein.

In addition to the formally organized events, the Proud Boys, other far-right groups, and white supremacists vowed to descend on Washington on January 6, with some threatening violence and pledging to carry weapons.

[55] Babbitt, wearing a Trump flag as a cape, was among several dozen rioters who approached the doors to the Speaker's Lobby, adjacent to the House chambers.

"[7][better source needed] Many rioters immediately began to leave the scene, making room for a Capitol Police emergency response team to get in and administer aid, and Babbitt was transported to Washington Hospital Center where she later was declared dead.

[62][63][8][64][65] U.S. Representative Markwayne Mullin, a witness to Babbitt's attempted breach, said that Lieutenant Byrd "didn't have a choice" but to shoot, and that his action "saved people's lives".

He stated that he had pulled the trigger as a "last resort" after the mob of protesters ignored his repeated orders to get back, and that he did not know at that moment whether Babbitt was armed or not and that she was a woman.

[60] Though they deplored Babbitt's death shortly after the event, few among Republican Members of Congress and conservative media initially claimed any wrongdoing from law enforcement, or suggested that it warranted a backlash.

U.S. Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ) said Babbitt had been "executed", later doubling down on that comment and adding that the police officer had been "lying in wait" and demanding to know his name.

The Washington Post reported in June 2021, "increasingly, key elements of the conservative movement [were] suggesting Ashli Babbitt was a martyr".

[79] Democratic strategist Mark Burns said this was a "dangerous development for a Republican Party with members increasingly comfortable pressing for and defending political violence".

Witthoeft later said in an interview that she was writing letters of support to January 6 arrestees and commented that her daughter had "made the ultimate sacrifice to bring attention to a stolen election.

Having been filed almost three years after Babbitt's death, the lawsuit missed the two-year statute of limitations imposed by the Federal Tort Claims Act.