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Saturday, November 23, 2024

Mysterious Babbitt shooting witnesses incited rioters, met secretly with Capitol Police on January 6

 Dubbed 'Frick and Frack,' the men stood feet from Ashli Babbitt among more than a dozen other unidentified material shooting witnesses.

Two unidentified men who incited rioters on January 6, captured video throughout the U.S. Capitol for hours, and stood feet from Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt when she was shot are drawing new attention as the fourth anniversary of the tragic day looms.

A Blaze News video investigation found that the duo assisted and shadowed a large group of protesters from the Capitol’s West Plaza to the House Speaker’s Lobby before Babbitt was fatally shot.

The pair later met secretly with U.S. Capitol Police at the edge of Capitol grounds and shared at least one video clip as evidence before the Babbitt shooting investigation was even officially under way. Capitol Police did not make a video or audio recording of their talks with the men. One of the men sat in an unmarked squad car and showed USCP special agents at least some of his video, security footage reviewed by Blaze News showed.

The men have been the subject of intense social media speculation for some time. They warranted just a few paragraphs in the now-closed Babbitt shooting investigation conducted by the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department.

Nicknamed “Frick and Frack” by a YouTube satirist, the men have long been considered important material witnesses in the killing of Babbitt, 35, of San Diego. They have not been publicly identified, arrested by the FBI, or charged by federal prosecutors.

As the FBI Jan. 6 arrest total heads toward 1,600, it’s not fully clear how aggressive the bureau will continue to be in the wake of former President Donald J. Trump’s landslide re-election on Nov. 5. Despite a reported DOJ decision to focus only on violent cases leading up to Jan. 20, the FBI recently arrested a 74-year-old cancer patient for nonviolent Jan. 6 misdemeanors.

Analyzing more than 22,000 hours of Capitol Police security video posted on Rumble by a U.S. House committee, Blaze News tracked the movements of Frick and Frack from the early violence on the West Plaza to their meeting with police and to them walking west away from Capitol grounds at 4 p.m.

Babbitt, an Air Force and National Guard veteran who came to Washington, D.C., to hear then-President Trump speak, was shot at nearly point-blank range at 2:44 p.m. by U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd.

She died a half-hour later at a Washington hospital. The death was classified a homicide by the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The U.S. Department of Justice declined to pursue charges against Byrd, who said he feared for his life when the 5'2" Babbitt began climbing into the window.

The shooting triggered a $30 million wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. government brought by Judicial Watch Inc. on behalf of widower Aaron Babbitt and his late wife’s estate. The DOJ secured a change of venue from Babbitt’s hometown of San Diego to the friendly confines of federal district court in Washington, D.C. Judicial Watch is appealing the change of venue. The suit is proceeding into discovery.

As that litigation and the extensive investigation that underpins it begin their long journey through the federal courts, questions have grown about the identities of more than a dozen material witnesses who either took part in rioting near the Speaker’s Lobby entrance or captured video that could be valuable evidence in the shooting. Frick and Frack are prominent on that list.

The list of unidentified material witnesses (see chart) includes #RedOnRedGlasses (second from top left), a provocateur captured on video apparently launching a long two-by-four like a javelin through a window at the Senate Wing Door at 2:12 p.m., creating the first breach of the Capitol Building.

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