One year ago, Ashli Babbitt was killed by a police officer while protesting against the installation of a totalitarian government.
Starting immediately, and continuing without pause up till the present moment, Babbitt and her fellow protesters were attacked and personally insulted – with a brutality, viciousness, and utter unprofessionalism that was nothing short of breathtaking and sickening – by those whose job is to be neutral.
Worse, hundreds of Babbitt’s fellow protesters were arrested and jailed for the crime of engaging in political dissent.
The way that the January 6th protest was handled and reacted to by the media establishment and the political establishment represented an all-time low for both establishments.
I use the term “January 6th protest” deliberately.
The events of January 6, 2021 were not a riot. They were not an insurrection. They were not an attack. They were not a coup attempt. They were not an act of domestic terrorism. They were a protest.
Even if the events of January 6 were an insurrection, the fact that someone would use this as an insult is proof of that person’s authoritarianism, moral bankruptcy, and cowardice. The United States is a nation founded upon the idea of rebelling against authority. Whatever word you use – whether it be rebellion, revolution, uprising, treason, sedition, or insurrection – fighting back against authority is something that Americans should value and celebrate, not use as an insult. Anyone who contemptuously pontificates about the “assault on our democracy” by “traitors” or “insurrectionists” is a mindless, morally bankrupt coward who values compliance with authority more than liberty, individual rights, human decency, or justice.
The actions of the Biden administration over the past year have proven that Babbitt and her fellow protesters were 100% correct and 100% justified.
From today onwards, I will think of January 6th as the day that Ashli Babbitt was unjustly killed. I will remember Ashli as a veteran, a patriot, and a brave person who put herself in harm’s way to stand up for what she believed in.
January 6th is Ashli Babbitt Day.