In the aftermath of the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, reports indicated that four people associated with the event died: one woman, Ashli Babbitt, was shot and died at the scene, and three other people who died of what were called “medical emergencies.”
After noting the death of Babbitt, D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee revealed that three other people died during the riot from “separate medical emergencies” during the riot.
“One adult female and two adult males appear to have suffered from separate medical emergencies, which resulted in their deaths,” said Contee. “Any loss of life in the District is tragic and our thoughts are with anyone impacted by their loss.”
A reporter asked Contee, “Could you clarify the three medical emergencies at the Capitol? Chief Contee, your read-out provided today said that your medics transported a gunshot victim today; I was just wondering if you could clarify today if that was the woman shot inside the Capitol and not some other gunshot victim?”
Contee responded: “Your question regarding the other individuals — obviously, until these individuals are seen at the office of the chief medical examiner, we will not know the cause of death. We believe that there was some type of medical emergency for each of them, but again, that’s very preliminary; once we know, obviously we can relay that information. The gunshot wound victim, a female, she was the one transported from the scene to an area hospital where she was pronounced (dead).”
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser then announced that she was issuing “Be On the Lookout” orders for suspected rioters.
“We are going to be issuing some ‘Be On The Lookout,’ or BOLO, as the police call them, alerts, featuring people who reached the Capitol, here in the building,” she said. “MPD will start to release those. I will be able to release more when we have some more discussions with the Capitol police and can review their video. But we will be out there on the lookout and we ask everybody out there to be on the lookout for these individuals who breached the Capitol. And some of them, we think very much, have to be held accountable for the carnage.”
Muriel’s response to unrest in the city has been under heightened scrutiny since the summer when left-wing activists began to demonstrate and occupy parts of the city. When violence broke out in August from activists at Black Lives Matter Plaza, Muriel famously blamed “outside agitators.” WAMU reported at the end of August:
For a second consecutive night, a demonstration in downtown D.C. turned violent, as police and activists collided near Black Lives Matter Plaza. Just after midnight on Monday morning, D.C. police officers used forceful tactics, including chemical irritants, to disperse a crowd that D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said had grown “increasingly aggressive.” At a press conference Monday, both Newsham and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser pointed to “outside agitators” for spurring conflicts over the weekend between protesters and law enforcement. This isn’t the first time D.C. officials have made that claim — Newsham insisted in early June that “outside agitators” were to blame for violent clashes, but arrest and prosecution records from mid-June showed otherwise.