A war hero caught up in the January 6 riots has slammed the Trump administration for handing a $5 million payout to a rioter’s family.
Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, a former U.S. Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan, Iraq and earned the Bronze Star Medal, spoke to CNN anchor Jake Tapper Monday about the government payout to the family of Ashli Babbitt.
Babbitt, 35, was fatally shot by an officer when a mob stormed the Capitol in 2021. The Trump administration agreed to the payout to settle a $30m wrongful death lawsuit filed by her family, the Associated Press reports.
Crow slated the move as part of an attempt by President Donald Trump to “rewrite history.”
“He doesn‘t want to acknowledge that he weaponized a mob and sent that mob to attack the Capitol to brutalize hundreds of officers, 140 of whom still have major injuries, five of whom died from their wounds and their trauma,” Crow told Tapper.
“We passed a bipartisan bill in 2022 to erect a plaque in honor of those officers. House Republicans and the speaker have refused to put that plaque up because they want to sweep it all under the rug.”
Lawmakers can’t just “ignore that entire part of history because it‘s inconvenient to Donald Trump” he added.
On Jan 6, Crow was captured in an image comforting Rep. Susan Wild, as lawmakers were forced to take cover from rioters storming the building.
At the time, Crow told CBS’s This Morning: “Susan is my friend. And I did what I think any friend would want to do, and just let her know that I was there for her and we would get through it.”
Babbitt was an Air Force veteran and QAnon proponent who supported Trump’s unevidenced “stolen” election narrative. Nearly one-third of the Babbitt settlement has reportedly been set aside for the family’s attorneys, a group that includes the conservative group Judicial Watch, reports The Washington Post.
After her death she emerged as a martyr-like figure among MAGA supporters. Trump has repeatedly referred to her as a “patriot,” as he and his allies attempt to reframe the history books for that day.
Just a day into his second term, Trump made the divisive decision to pardon or commute the convictions of over 1,500 people charged in connection with the riot four years ago.
