While fielding questions as part of a radio program, North Dakota GOP Senator Kevin Cramer called 14-year Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt a “criminal,” and said he’s “grateful” for the Capitol Police Officer who killed the unarmed January 6th protestor for “not complying” with his orders from the other side of a barricaded door.
The comments from Senator Kevin Cramer came as citizens of North Dakota called in to “The Jay Thomas Show” to speak with their elected official directly. While on the line with the Senator, one caller asked that Cramer reveal the identity of the Capitol Police Officer who shot an unarmed election integrity protestor, Ashli Babbitt, to death from the opposite side of a barricaded door inside the U.S. Capitol building on January 6th.
“I’m quite sure – this is my gut feeling – that everybody knows the name of the guy that shot her,” the caller said, before asking Cramer to “be the one to leak his name.” Cramer asked the caller, “Why would I do that?” The caller replied that the American people “have a right to know.”
Still refusing to name the officer who killed Babbitt, Cramer told the caller that Babbitt was a “criminal” who was shot for the crime of “not complying with officers,” before again questioning why the American people would need to know the name of the “innocent” officer and eventually claiming that even he, as a United States Senator, has no idea who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt.
“The person that shot her is a police officer shooting a criminal not complying with officers telling her, ‘Stop. Don’t come through that window. We have guns drawn. Don’t do it,’” Cramer said. “They’re protecting people, and the officer was found to be innocent of any wrongdoing. So then what would be the purpose of releasing that officer’s name? What do you need to know the officer’s name for?”
“I don’t need to know it. I don’t know it. Why would you need to know it?” Cramer continued. Refusing to give in, the caller pressed Cramer, drawing comparisons to other highly publicized police shootings in which, regardless of whether or not the officer was charged with any wrongdoing, their names were released to the public.
“For crying out loud, if you shoot an illegal alien we’re going to know that police officer’s name,” the caller told Cramer. “This is a police officer that shot somebody in our capitol and his name is being withheld!” Still, Cramer backed the move not to release the officer’s name, telling the caller that he would look into what the laws surrounding the decision before remarking that he is “grateful” for the officer that shot Babbitt. “I’m just grateful for the person quite honestly,” Cramer said as the call was ended.