Man who filmed death of Ashli Babbitt during January 6 riot sentenced to six years in prison

A Utah man that filmed the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt on January 6, 2021, was sentenced to six years in prison on Friday, despite his claims that he was at the Capitol as a citizen journalist.

Babbitt was a protester and 14 year Air Force veteran who was killed by a United States Capitol police officer during the protest on Capitol Hill. Babbitt was shot trying to enter a secured area inside the U.S. Capitol Building the day the Capitol riot took place. She was unarmed at the time, and tried to climb through a broken window in a door near the House Chamber.

Prosecutors claimed John Earle Sullivan, who was convicted on multiple charges including felony obstruction of an official proceeding and civil disorder, made $90,000 off his footage of the riot, which included Babbitt's death. Sullivan was in the Speaker's Lobby at the time, and was encouraging rioters to break glass panes when he filmed Babbitt's death, per Axios. Sullivan was also heard shouting expletives that encouraged the protesters. 

Sullivan was also convicted of entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon, and disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon, after he brought a Smith & Wesson M&P knife to the Capitol, according to the Justice Department. He was sentenced to six years in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

Babbitt's mother sued the federal government over her daughter's death, alleging she was ambushed, but an internal investigation from the Capitol Hill Police Department concluded that Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd had violated no laws and would not be disciplined for the shooting. 

"USCP officers had barricaded the Speaker's Lobby with furniture before a rioter shattered the glass door," the department said following the investigation. "If the doors were breached, the rioters would have immediate access to the House chambers. The officer's actions were consistent with the officer's training and USCP policies and procedures."