How Trump turned a January 6 death into the politics of ‘protecting women’

January 5, 2026

Following the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, Donald Trump transformed Ashli Babbitt—a QAnon follower shot while breaching the Speaker's Lobby—into a martyred symbol for his movement, framing her death as evidence that women need protection rather than acknowledging her active role in the riot. Trump's political rhetoric has historically exploited deaths of white women, from victims of undocumented immigrants to Babbitt herself, to advance his "protecting women" narrative while serving his broader political agenda. Scholars note this strategy exploits legitimate concerns about women's vulnerability to position Trump as a protector against imagined threats, deflecting from actual issues like healthcare access or domestic violence resources.

Who is affected

Ashli Babbitt (deceased Air Force veteran and January 6 rioter)
Michelle Witthoeft (Babbitt's mother)
Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd (officer who shot Babbitt)
Members of Congress who were at the Capitol on January 6, 2021
Laken Riley (deceased college student) and her father Jason Riley
January 6 defendants arrested for their actions
Suburban white women (targeted demographic for Trump's messaging)
Women in Trump's political movement

What action is being taken

No ongoing actions are explicitly described in the article. The article discusses past events and their political framing but does not detail current actions being taken.

Why it matters

This matters because it reveals how political movements weaponize individual tragedies to advance specific narratives rather than address root causes of violence or vulnerability. Trump's transformation of Babbitt from active insurrectionist into passive victim requiring protection demonstrates what scholars call a "protection racket"—offering protection from imagined threats while deflecting from actual governmental threats or systemic issues affecting women. The pattern of exploiting deaths of white women and racial dynamics (such as Babbitt being killed by a Black officer) shows how martyrdom can be manipulated to build religious fervor around political movements and reinforce patriarchal power structures that keep women in subordinate roles. This politicization causes additional pain to grieving families while obscuring the actual circumstances of deaths and preventing meaningful policy responses.

What's next

No explicit next steps stated in the article

Read full article from source: The 19th