WASHINGTON — A New Jersey man who told WUSA9 he was just feet away from Ashli Babbitt when she was shot on Jan. 6 pleaded guilty Thursday in his criminal case.
Thomas Baranyi appeared before U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to enter a plea of guilty to one Class “A” misdemeanor count of entering and remaining in a restricted building. He will face a maximum sentence of 1 year in prison at his sentencing hearing on May 6.
Baranyi was among a group of rioters who made it to the Speaker’s Lobby door – where Capitol Police officers had erected a barricade to prevent the mob from entering any further into the building. Babbitt was shot while attempting to climb through a shattered window into the lobby. A short time later, Baranyi, who witnessed the shooting, spoke with WUSA9 reporter Ariane Datil.
"We tore through the scaffolding, through flash bangs and tear gas and blitzed our way in through all the chambers just trying to get into Congress," Baranyi said.
The 28-year-old showed Datil blood on his hand, which he claimed came from Babbitt.
"We had stormed into the chambers inside and there was a young lady who rushed through the windows," he said. "A number of police and Secret Service were saying 'get down, get out of the way.' She didn’t heed the call and as we kind of raced up to try to grab people and pull them back, they shot her in the neck, and she fell back on me.”
“It could have been me, but she went in first,” he added.
Multiple investigations by the Justice Department and U.S. Capitol Police Department found USCP Lt. Michael Byrd acted lawfully when he shot Babbitt. Babbitt’s husband Aaron has said he plans to file a civil rights lawsuit against the department but, to date, no such suit has been filed.
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