Markwayne Mullin Hugged the Officer Who Killed Ashli Babbitt

Markwayne Mullin, who is taking Kristi Noem’s place as DHS secretary, thought Ashli Babbitt’s killer was a victim. He hugged the officer, Michael Byrd, who killed Ashli Babbitt in ‘self-defense’. I don’t know how you call the killing of Ashli Babbitt self-defense because she had a backpack on her back. That was his excuse. Meanwhile, her hands were gripping the door as she began to climb through a broken window in the door.

Mullin’s perspective:

“After it happened, he came over. He was physically and emotionally distraught. I actually gave him a hug, and I said, ‘Sir, you did what you had to do.’” Mullin went even further, telling investigators that he heard Byrd issue a warning before firing — a claim debunked by video evidence showing no such warning was given. He told media outlets that Byrd “didn’t have a choice” and that his shot “saved people’s lives.” Sen. Mullin: I guarantee you—I don’t know for a fact, but I guarantee you—he’s never had to pull his weapon in a manner like that before.

“He was the last person in the world who ever wanted to use force like that; he wasn’t wanting to do that. I know for a fact because, after it happened, he came over and was physically and emotionally distraught, and I actually gave him a hug. And I said, “Sir, you did what you had to do.”

He didn’t have a choice?

“And I mean that. Unfortunately, for the young lady, her family’s life has changed. It was an unfortunate situation where she lost her life, and some people lost their loved ones. But the lieutenant’s life has also changed, too, because if it’s the first time you’ve ever had to use lethal force, that doesn’t ever leave you.

“And it wasn’t his choice; he didn’t show up to work that day to have to do that. He was doing his job, and he got put in a situation where he had to do his job because there was a member still on the balcony. If you’re going to present your weapon in a [certain] manner and give commands, and they still don’t listen and of self-defense, or that weapon is going to be taken away from you. It’s going to be used on you, and it’s going to put all of our lives in danger, too.”

MARKWAYNE MULLIN HUGGED THE MAN WHO SHOT ASHLI BABBITT

Markwayne Mullin publicly admitted that after
Ashli Babbitt
was shot and killed inside the Capitol, he went over and hugged the officer who fired the shot.

Not Ashli Babbitt’s husband.
Not her family.
Not the memory… pic.twitter.com/O0mE9IroB2

— ✦ ✦ (@BenKaxton) March 6, 2026

He likes to spend money on the scam refugee resettlement operation for fake asylees.

The US will spend $5.7 billion on refugee resettlement welfare this year.

Congress is still spending excessively, and one thing they shouldn’t be spending money on is refugee welfare. The bill provides medical care, employment services, child care, housing, and cash assistance for refugees and asylees. The tens of millions who poured across our borders during the Biden years all claimed to be asylees.

Markwayne Mullin is one of the 14 Republicans who signed onto the bill.

He has been a fierce defender of ICE, and he said he’s a friend of Trump’s.

This was self-defense? He never warned her to stop. She was climbing through a hole in the door where glass had been. Both hands were gripping the door. That crime wasn’t a death penalty case.