Capitol defendant who filmed Ashli Babbitt’s death pleads guilty to misdemeanor charge

A defendant in the Capitol riot who prosecutors say filmed the death of Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6 has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

Andrew Wyatt Bennett, of Maryland, pleaded guilty on Thursday to one of four charges in connection with the riot, the Justice Department announced.

Bennett pleaded guilty to “parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building,” according to his plea agreement. He faces up to six months in prison, and is set to be sentenced on Oct. 1.

Bennett was arrested on Jan. 26, and was placed on a personal recognizance bond. He is at least the 20th person to plead guilty in connection with the riot, according to CNN.

According to an affidavit filed around the time he was arrested, authorities found four livestreams on Bennett’s Facebook account. In one video, Bennett is apparently heard yelling “no destruction” when someone kicks a door.

But in another video, he appears to chant “break it down” along with the crowd, authorities said. The affidavit stated that the chant was “in relation to a door located in the Speaker’s Lobby that was barricaded by [U.S. Capitol Police] and where a woman was later shot.”

Authorities did not name the woman in the filing. However, Babbitt was shot and killed while attempting to climb over a barricade erected outside the Speaker’s lobby.

Babbitt’s family has filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia seeking records on the officers that shot her.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., said in April that the officer who fired the shot would not face charges.

Prosecutors said in a court filing that Bennett was wearing a hat with the letters “FAFO,” a slogan popular among the far-right group the Proud Boys. He acknowledged trying to contact the Maryland chapter to become a member, but there is no evidence he is associated with the group.

There was also no evidence that Bennett was violent or destructive while in the Capitol.