Justice and January 6th: Family Members Speak Out | Saturday Extra

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Speaker 1
You.

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Speaker 2
It's been three years since the riot at the Capitol on January 6. And to date, more than 1200 Americans have been charged, with many of them being sentenced to years behind bars. The polarizing cases have sparked protests, counterprotests, and accusations of political weaponization of the judicial system.

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Speaker 3
In this episode, we talk with the organizer of a group demanding fair treatment for those charged and more accountability from government officials for what happened that day. I'm Daily Wire editor in chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Saturday, January 6, and this is an extra edition of Morning WIrE. Joining us now is Mickey Whithoff, the mother of Ashley Babbitt and a lead organizer for a group calling for justice for J six defendants and more accountability for government officials. Mickey, thank you for coming on.

00:53
Speaker 1
Thank you.

00:54
Speaker 3
So it's been three years since the January 6 riot and since your daughter was killed at the Capitol. How did that day change your life?

01:03
Speaker 1
My daughter was shot and killed in the Capitol, January 6 of 2021, at the stop the steel rally. It has changed my life in every way you can imagine. The death of a child is something that I don't think anybody should have to go through. And Ashley did four tours duty in the Middle east and had earned the right to protest a government that she felt was overstepping and overreaching in, many know, the COVID lockdowns, the mandated vaccinations. She ran a small business in, you know, lots of the policies were affecting her business. And Ashley went there that day to redress her grievances with the government. And since then, my life has changed in, like I said, every way you can imagine. I'm from southern California.

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Speaker 1
I've relocated to Washington, DC, where we hold a vigil outside the DC jail every night to try to draw awareness to the horrific treatment of the men and women that showed up to the Capitol on January 6. Also to try to open up a narrative that addresses the fact that american people have been shown the same footage. That is really the most horrific aspects of that day. But I absolutely think that my family and Ashley deserve an investigation into the events of that day. And I think we need to see it. And lots of people are waiting for Donald Trump to get back into office and give everybody a blanket pardon. And that's not my position. I think a blanket pardon would be detrimental to our movement because I think that would sweep everything under the rug.

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Speaker 1
And we absolutely need to see what happened that day. We also need to be aware as american citizens the way the Capitol police operate with complete know there's never been a proper investigation into the events of my daughter's death and the way that the Capitol police are allowed to operate where they're not held accountable for their own know. And I think a lot of America doesn't know that. Lieutenant Michael Byrd, he was lieutenant when he shot and killed my daughter. He's since been promoted to captain, but he know a questionable record. He's ill trained. And I believe that in any other police force in this country would have been caused for dismissal and not promotion. So I think the american citizens really need to put some attention to the way the Capitol police are allowed to.

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Speaker 3
Operate and do business on the other side of this. Do you believe that the people that were the true rioters that did get out of hand that day, do they deserve accountability and do they need to take responsibility for their actions?

03:23
Speaker 1
I absolutely do. That's why I don't think that a blanket pardon is a good idea. But I think that if we're going to hold american citizens accountable, we absolutely need to hold the police force accountable that day. And we need to see where the violence started. We need to see, and I've seen footage of a peaceful crowd standing there and have munitions launched at them from above. But no, I believe every single person should be held accountable for their actions that, you know, Nancy Pelosi to Michael Bird, to every single patriot that was there that day. And if things got out of control, let's see what they did. But I don't think that anybody deserves a seven and a half year sentence for standing on the lawn or for showing up there that day.

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Speaker 1
I don't think judges should be allowed to legislate from the bench and attach seven year sentences to misdemeanor charges and what they call enhanced misdemeanors. I mean, that's not even a thing unless it's for January Sixers. I was not there on January 6, but I think the american people that were there that day need to be judged fairly. I think that these sentences they're throwing at people are just astronomical and just over the top. I think that they very much judge the day on the calendar and not the man for his deeds that day, which I would very much like to see. Ashley Babbitt, like I said, she was in the air force. She did four tours of duty in the Middle east and came home.

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Speaker 1
She was denied rendering of honors simply because she was at the Capitol on January 6, never having been charged with a crime, and that was in February of 2021. So I think that they had already set forth the precedents of the way they were going to hold these people accountable. I just think that the sentences are excessive. Enrique terrio, 22 years in jail. He wasn't even in DC on January 6. So I think that these are a large group of people being treated in a way that is just unprecedented.

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Speaker 3
You mentioned the vigils that you've organized. We actually sent a reporter, Daniel Chaitan, to one of the vigils this week. In audio that he captured, the group sings the national anthem and other patriotic songs. They have calls with the prisoners, but mostly they offer each other hope. Here's some of the audio from that visit.

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Speaker 4
Okay, can you tell me your name and where'd you come from?

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Speaker 5
Nicole Refitt. My husband is guy Refitt. He was the first chancer to go to trial with a jury. He was convicted on all counts. He was sentenced to seven and a half years, August 1 of 22. He never entered the building, nor was he charged with any assault or violent crime. In the beginning, it was so isolating. Being a Jan Sixer, no one wanted to have anything to do with you. It was really scary the way they came into our home. Our neighborhood, of course, was very scared of what they had seen. So for a long time, you had no contact with anyone. And then when the community started really growing, really, that's all we had, was each other.

06:26
Speaker 4
So how many nights have you been out here?

06:29
Speaker 5
Over 500 days.

06:30
Speaker 4
That's a lot.

06:31
Speaker 5
Consistently, when people see that you are committed to a cause and they know that you're going to be out there and these guys in here and people watching on live stream, listening for their husband or spouse's or father's name every night, it then turns into a very important job to have every day. I've just seen that the more brave people are getting about that day, the more questions people want answered. By doing this and being consistent and being out here, it makes a lot of Jan Sixers and other people that are passionate about our country more brave also. And that is a huge accomplishment, I believe.

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Speaker 6
My name is Tamara Perryman. My husband's here in DC. We give them this platform to be able to get their own voices out because we feel like it's really important. And the mainstream media has done everything they can to annihilate and assassinate their characters for three years, and they should.

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Speaker 1
Have the opportunity to defend or to.

07:31
Speaker 6
Even just say who they really truly are with their own words. They're not going to let my husband out of jail anytime soon. Even if they did, if they let my husband out of his jail next.

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Speaker 5
Week, I would still be here, still.

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Speaker 1
Be right here doing this, because he's.

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Speaker 6
Not the only one. It's so much bigger than him.

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Speaker 3
How long have you been carrying on these vigils and how have they gone? Have they been peaceful?

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Speaker 1
We've been absolutely peaceful. We've been outside the DC jail holding the candlelight vigil, singing the national anthem with these men that continue to sing the national anthem despite the way this country has treated them as a group. They call out to our vigil through livestream and they sing as a group. And we sing with them every night now for over 500 nights here in DC.

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Speaker 3
Has your group seen pushback from antifa or other activist groups over the years?

08:15
Speaker 1
Well, yes, we have counterprotesters out there. We used to have them in large number. They're dwindling, but they do follow us around. We also attend committee hearings in the Rayburn building, the Longworth building, and some senate hearings. But we have been mostly present in the Rayburn building and the Longworth for these congressional hearings. And they oftentimes show up to protest us at these buildings. They show up at court to give us a hard time, and they are often at our vigil to yell and scream awful things at us as well. But we have a large police presence there that keeps us safe and keeps them on their side of the road.

08:49
Speaker 3
I should ask you about the anarchy princess and the megaphone incident that led to your arrest. What happened?

08:59
Speaker 1
I've never even had a moving violation until I got here to DC, but I have been arrested twice since I've been here. One was for obstructing the roadway when I was trying to lay flowers last January 6. And the other one was for my interaction with anarchy princess, which speaks for itself. I did break a megaphone. I feel like she had that coming. She walked through our vigil, kicked our flag. She had been yelling awful things through her bullhorn at us the whole memorial Day walk. And, yeah, so I laid hands on Anarchy princess, broker, bullhorn, and I was arrested.

09:32
Speaker 3
Look, recent polls show that the country is largely divided on j six. Do you believe your actions have changed how Americans view what happened that day?

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Speaker 1
Well, I just hope that as much speaking as we've done, if we win the hearts and minds of any people, that's progress. I think that our persistence and our perseverance, I'm absolutely sure has changed the life of the prisoners inside as far as their treatment. And they are now allowed to have visitation. And there are many people working hard for January Sixers. And I first got here to DC. We were told it was a political football nobody wanted touch. And now people talk about it in committee hearings and such. And there are some vigils going on the 6 January, on the third anniversary, of course, we're going to hold our event here in DC. We'll hold our vigil that night and also look ahead. America is coming to hold a fully permitted event outside the Department of Justice from twelve to two.

10:27
Speaker 1
There are also vigils that will happen in Ron Concoan, New York, at the american first warehouse, Lacanto, Florida, with Jeremy Brown's people. Two vigils in Texas, Conroe and Houston, Talladega, Alabama Los Angeles, Portland and Columbus, Ohio. But I think that Americans are largely waking up. I would like to say that the release of the footage is helping, but really it's been so minimal and so rolled back and watered down. But I think that the thing that this establishment didn't count on was american perseverance. For me, it's not so much about Donald Trump as it is the right to due process and the right to redress your grievances. And this is not something I think people are going to lay down and let go away because our people are in know.

11:12
Speaker 1
A lot of them, veterans that serve this country, some police officers, some main Street America. They've locked up Main Street America. And like you asked, do I think people should be held accountable for their actions that very much do. But I think know these people that trespassed on the grass, know touched a bike fence and are being charged with assault with a deadly weapon or threw a water bottle, and they're being charged with assault with a deadly weapon. I think that's overreach. I think that's excessive. It would be a blessing to have people held accountable for their actions that day, not because it was January 6.

11:46
Speaker 3
Mickey, thank you so much for talking with us today.

11:48
Speaker 1
Thank you.

11:49
Speaker 3
That was Mickey Whithoff. And this has been an extra edition of Morning Wire.