Ashli’s brother, who was fatally shot by an Officer during the Capital riot, has been accused of shouting racial slurs at a San Diego Latino traffic controller and attacking him.
Roger Stefan Witthoeft, Jr., was charged with battery, with hate crime enhancement, as well as violating victim’s constitutional rights through threat of force, San Diego City Attorney Mara W. Elliott announced.
The San Diego Union Tribune reported the first time about Babbitt’s relationship with Witthoeft. They cited public records and a case they were involved in as codefendants. Witthoeft was identified as Babbitt’s brother by The New York Times last.
It happened in September last year. Witthoeft was told that he needed to make a detour by a San Diego Gas & Electric employee.
Witthoeft “exited from his pickup truck and verbally as well as physically confronted the worker (a Latino man),” Elliott’s office said in a statement.
According to the statement, Witnesses claimed that Witthoeft yelled at the worker a variety of racial slurs, including variations on “Why don’t you speak in English you…immigrant?” and “Go back to your country, you…immigrant.”
Prosecutors stated that witnesses also told investigators Witthoeft challenged the worker, then shoved him and hit him with a bat.
Witthoeft is due to stand trial next month. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Witthoeft is being represented in court by a public lawyer. A request for comment from the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office was not received by Thursday.
According to Air Force records, Babbitt was an Air Force veteran who was a security force controller and served multiple Middle East tours between 2004 and 2016.
She had posted many messages on social media in recent years indicating that she was an ardent Trump supporter.
Babbitt’s unjust death has been promoted by some far right who have tried to downplay violence at storming the Capitol and have demanded that the identity the shooter be made public. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) has stated that Babbitt’s execution was . He also accused the officer who shot Babbitt of “lying in waiting” to do so.
The Capitol Police officer who shot Babbittt while she tried to forcefully enter Capitol with a mob of Trump supporters was cleared by the U.S. Department of Justice.
