Rep. Markwayne Mullin during a July 2021 interview on C-SPAN.
A newly resurfaced video is raising eyebrows across conservative circles after comments from Sen. Markwayne Mullin, President Trump’s latest pick to head the Department of Homeland Security after removing Kristi Noem, praising and even hugging Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd, the officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt.
Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran and Trump supporter, was gunned down in cold blood on January 6, 2021, while peacefully protesting.
She was unarmed, posing no threat, yet Byrd fired a single shot that ended her life as she attempted to climb through a broken window in the Capitol.
But according to Mullin, Byrd is the real victim here! In an interview on C-SPAN from July 2021, six months after Babbitt was murdered, Mullin recounts the moments after the shooting.
“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.’” Mullin went even further, telling investigators that he heard Byrd issue a warning before firing, a claim debunked by video evidence showing no such warning was given.
He told media outlets that Byrd “didn’t have a choice” and that his shot “saved people’s lives.”
Sen. Mullin: I guarantee you—I don’t know for a fact, but I guarantee you—he’s never had to pull his weapon in a manner like that before. He was the last person in the world who ever wanted to use force like that; he wasn’t wanting to do that.
I know for a fact because, after it happened, he came over and was physically and emotionally distraught, and I actually gave him a hug. And I said, “Sir, you did what you had to do.” And I mean that.
Unfortunately, for the young lady, her family’s life has changed. It was an unfortunate situation where she lost her life, and some people lost their loved ones.
But the lieutenant’s life has also changed, too, because if it’s the first time you’ve ever had to use lethal force, that doesn’t ever leave you.
And it wasn’t his choice; he didn’t show up to work that day to have to do that. He was doing his job, and he got put in a situation where he had to do his job because there was a member still on the balcony.
If you’re going to present your weapon in a [certain] manner and give commands, and they still don’t listen and they still approach, you don’t have a choice. Either you have to, at that point, discharge your weapon in a manner of self-defense, or that weapon is going to be taken away from you.
It’s going to be used on you, and it’s going to put all of our lives in danger, too.
WATCH:
As TGP’s Brian Lupo noted, video evidence captured Byrd shooting an unarmed Babbitt without warning as she attempted to climb through a narrow window near a barricaded entryway to the Speaker of the House’s office area in the U.S. Capitol.
Following an investigation, Byrd was cleared of any wrongdoing, although questions remain about the escalation to lethal force without attempts to subdue or detain Babbitt.
In addition to Byrd leaving his Glock 22 service weapon in a Visitor’s Center bathroom in February 2019, Byrd also had his police powers revoked on several occasions for failing to meet semi-annual firearms qualifications standards.
Byrd expressed defiance after being pressed about killing Babbitt during an NBC interview months following the killing. He claimed that he saved “countless lives” by killing Babbitt.
He also whined that he has been getting death threats since killing the Air Force veteran. The officer said that it was “disheartening” and that he was simply “doing my job.”
One day before the third anniversary of Jan. 6, that Judicial Watch filed a $30 million wrongful death suit against the federal government for the Capitol Police shooting of Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court Southern District of California.
“Ashli loved her country and wanted to show her support for President Trump’s America First policies and to see and hear the president speak live while he remained in office. Ashli did not go to Washington as part of a group or for any unlawful or nefarious purpose. She was there to exercise what she believed were her God-given, American liberties and freedoms,” reads the complaint.
The filing continues, “After demonstrators filled the hallway outside the lobby, two individuals in the crowded, tightly packed hallway struck and dislodged the glass panels in the lobby doors and the right door sidelight. Lt. Byrd, who is a USCP commander and was the incident commander for the House on January 6, 2021, shot Ashli on sight as she raised herself up into the opening of the right door sidelight.
Lt. Byrd later confessed that he shot Ashli before seeing her hands or assessing her intentions or even identifying her as female. Ashli was unarmed. Her hands were up in the air, empty, and in plain view of Lt. Byrd and other officers in the lobby.“
The Washington Examiner reports that the suit was filed on behalf of Babbitt’s estate and her husband, Aaron Babbitt, and claims the officer who shot Babbitt was “incompetent” and “dangerous” and should have recognized Babbitt posed no threat to Congress when she entered the House speaker’s lobby.
“Judicial Watch is seeking accountability from the United States government, that is responsible for that awful and unjustified shooting death.”
“Remember, the only homicide on January 6 was the unlawful shooting death, as our lawsuit alleges, of poor Ashli Babbitt. She deserves justice. She deserves accountability. And I tell you, Judicial Watch, and I know all of our supporters, are honored to be able to pursue this lawsuit to get justice for Ashli.”
In May 2025, the U.S. government agreed to pay nearly $5 million to Babbitt’s estate and family.
The settlement officially resolved the case, avoiding a jury trial that had previously been scheduled for July 20, 2026.
The post SHOCKING VIDEO RESURFACES: Trump’s New DHS Pick Markwayne Mullin PRAISED and HUGGED the Cop Who MURDERED Unarmed Air Force Vet Ashli Babbitt – Called Him a Hero! appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.