Babbitt’s shooting was captured on several videos that were recorded and shared by people in the crowd. Her own social media history also reveals her movements on the morning and afternoon of January 6. But looking back further shows an ideological journey that saw her travel from stating she had backed President Barack Obama to engaging in damaging right-wing conspiracy theories.

We have looked at Babbitt’s social media footprint, as well as other open source information, to trace both journeys.

On January 5, Bellingcat published an article detailing how the January 6 rally in Washington D.C. was preceded by weeks of online discussion among the MAGA right, QAnon and adjacent groups about the “Wild Protest” that would take place in the capital that day. As the article outlined, these conversations openly considered whether the Capitol should be stormed and burned.

While Babbitt was described to San Diego news stations as a patriot by her husband and “loyal and extremely passionate” by her brother-in-law, her social media history details engagement with some of the darker sentiments circulating in online right-wing and pro-Trump circles in recent years.