Ashli Babbitt’s mother arrested for blocking traffic while protesting outside Capitol

The mother of Ashli Babbitt, a protestor killed in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, was arrested while protesting outside the Capitol on Friday.

Fifty-eight-year-old Micki Witthoeft, Babbitt’s mother, was reportedly arrested for two traffic violations after allegedly failing to obey an order from Capitol Police and illegally blocking traffic.

Witthoeft’s daughter, Babbitt, was part of the mob that forced their way into the Capitol on Jan. 6. She was shot as she tried to climb through a barricaded door near the House chamber.

Her mother took to the Capitol on Friday, which was the anniversary of her daughter’s killing. Police say Witthoeft, along with other demonstrators, illegally blocked traffic near the Capitol. She was arrested after she refused multiple requests to move out of the road and onto the open sidewalk, according to police.

“You’re not obeying the traffic laws,” one Capitol Police officer can be heard telling Witthoeft in a video of the incident.

“You can either move to the sidewalk or you can be placed under arrest,” the officer says, to which Witthoeft responded by turning around with her hands behind her back.