Assault charges won't proceed against Ashli Babbitt's mother

WASHINGTON — An assault charge against the mother of Ashli Babbitt will not go forward after federal prosecutors declined to file charges in her case last month.

Michelle “Micki” Witthoeft, 58, was arrested May 29 on preliminary charges of simple assault and destruction of property in connection with an incident that occurred near the D.C. Jail. According to a DC Police incident report, another woman reported Witthoeft had assaulted her by shoving her with an open hand and then damaged a bullhorn she was carrying.

Video of the incident posted on social media appeared to show a counter-protestor making a crude gesture as she walked away from Witthoeft, at which point Witthoeft followed her and shoved her several times before grabbing a blowhorn the woman was carrying and throwing it on the ground.

Witthoeft was given a citation to appear in D.C. Superior Court on June 22, according to paperwork reviewed by WUSA9, but was told when she arrived federal prosecutors hadn’t filed charges against her.

“I showed up at the courthouse,” Witthoeft told WUSA9. “They said my case wasn’t papered and I was free to go.”

In D.C. Superior Court, a case is “papered’ if prosecutors decide to file charges. In a “no papered” case, either the U.S. Attorney’s Office or the Office of the D.C. Attorney General decides not to prosecute.

Witthoeft’s case was being handled by U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves’ office. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the charging decision. In D.C. Superior Court, prosecutors typically do not explain why a case was not papered.

Witthoeft told WUSA9 she maintained her innocence but was surprised when she appeared in court to find there was no case against her.

“From the beginning I didn’t believe I did anything wrong,” she said. “But I kind of expected to be charged because I do look angry on the video.”

This is the second time prosecutors have declined to pursue charges against Witthoeft in D.C. She was arrested earlier this year on the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack for failing to obey police orders and blocking and obstructing roadways on Independence Avenue near the Capitol. Those charges were later dropped by then-D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine’s office.

Witthoeft is one of a group of supporters of Jan. 6 defendants who have for more than a year held a nightly vigil outside the D.C. Jail. Witthoeft’s daughter, Babbitt, was among the crowd that entered the building and was shot and killed while attempting to climb through the window of a barricaded door into the Speaker’s Lobby. Investigations by both the U.S. Capitol Police Department and Department of Justice found no wrongdoing on the part of the USCP lieutenant who shot Babbitt.

A former participant of the vigil and Jan. 6 defendant, Taylor Taranto, was arrested last month after Secret Service agents allegedly found him in possession of guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition near former President Barack Obama's home. Taranto was being held at the D.C. Jail while a federal magistrate judge determined whether he was a flight risk. A vigil organizer told WUSA9 Taranto had recently been asked to leave after he claimed in an interview that Babbitt was still alive.

In addition to the nightly vigils, Witthoeft has been a regular presence over the past two years at court hearings for Jan. 6 defendants and on Capitol Hill, where she has met with Congressional Republicans – including Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.

To date, more than 1,000 defendants have been charged in connection with the Capitol riot. According to the latest numbers from the Justice Department, nearly 600 defendants have now pleaded guilty to charges connected to the riot. Another 98 have been convicted at trial of offenses ranging from entering a restricted building to seditious conspiracy.