‘Shoot them’: LBC presenter Shelagh Fogarty deletes tweet that called for DC police to open fire on Trump supporters an hour before Air Force vet was killed
- LBC presenter Shelagh Fogarty tweeted that DC police should shoot rioters
- She added ‘You would if they were black’ before Air Force veteran was killed
- Ms Fogarty tried to defend her tweet before deleting it amid a Twitterstorm
A former BBC Radio 5 Live presenter deleted a tweet that called for DC police to shoot pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol – around an hour before an Air Force veteran was killed.
LBC radio host Shelagh Fogarty yesterday replied to a tweet which showed a video of dozens of MAGA protesters engaging in scuffles with police inside the Capitol Building in Washington DC.
In a now-deleted post, Ms Fogarty said: ‘Shoot them’, and added in a tweet which is still online: ‘You would if they were black’.
Around an hour later, unarmed Air Force veteran Ashli Babbit, 35, was shot in the chest when she tried to clamber through a barricaded entrance. The 14-year veteran from San Diego later died.
The tweet sparked a furious backlash on Twitter led by actor Laurence Fox and TalkRadio presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer, while LBC’s owner Global Radio told the National File that it will investigate the incident.
Ms Fogarty initially justified her call to shoot the rioters even after Ms Babbit’s death, calling them ‘white supremacists’ and saying ‘black invaders’ wouldn’t ‘have reached the door, let alone the inner sanctum’ of the building.
The radio presenter claimed her tweet was simply meant to reflect that disparity in police response, but later backtracked by deleting her ‘clumsy’ reply amid a ferocious Twitterstorm.
Global Radio, which owns LBC, had not responded to MailOnline’s request for comment at the time of publication.
LBC radio host Shelagh Fogarty replied to a tweet which showed a video of dozens of MAGA protesters engaging in scuffles with police inside the Capitol Building in Washington DC
In a now-deleted post, Ms Fogarty said: ‘Shoot them’, and added in a tweet which is still online: ‘You would if they were black’. The tweet sparked a furious backlash on Twitter led by actor Laurence Fox and TalkRadio presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer
Around an hour later, unarmed Air Force veteran Ashli Babbit, 35, from San Diego was shot in the chest when she tried to clamber through a barricaded entrance and later died
TalkRadio presenter Ms Hartley-Brewer responded to Ms Fogarty’s first tweet with: ‘Bloody hell’.
Ms Fogarty replied: ‘You know what I meant. These are white supremacists who, but for the colour of their skin, wouldn’t have reached the door let alone the inner sanctum. Nobody should be shot. Nobody should be there’.
The TalkRadio presenter tweeted back: ‘That really wasn’t what it looked like you meant’.
Outspoken actor Mr Fox said: ‘I don’t understand how anyone could tweet ‘Shoot them. Why are you inciting people to commit violence?’
Another social-media user tweeted: ‘Don’t remember her saying this when BLM [Black Lives Matter] and Antifa were burning businesses down and kicking peoples’ heads in during last summer’s rioting’.
The LBC presenter responded: ‘You mistake me – again.
‘Do you honestly think black invaders of the Capitol building goading police and security in a seat of democratic power would NOT have been shot? That was my point. I want nobody shot.’
TalkRadio presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer responded to Ms Fogarty’s first tweet with: ‘Bloody hell’. Ms Fogarty replied: ‘You know what I meant. These are white supremacists who, but for the colour of their skin, wouldn’t have reached the door let alone the inner sanctum’
Actor Laurence Fox tweeted: ‘I don’t understand how anyone could tweet ‘Shoot them. Why are you inciting people to commit violence?’
Paramedics tend to Babbit moments after she was shot inside the Capitol on Wednesday
After Ms Babbit was shot dead, Ms Fogarty tweeted: ‘A woman has died and while my tweet was making a wider point about who gets shot in America – it was clumsy. Awful events.’
The row came on one of the darkest days in US political history, which began with Donald Trump urging his supports supporters to march on the Capitol Building to stop the result of the 2020 election being certified.
Congress had been in session at the time of the attack, undertaking the typically-routine business of certifying the election result – which was being opposed by a number of Republicans loyal to Trump.
The President had been holding a rally nearby at the White House before urging his supporters to go to the Capitol, where they broke in and trashed the symbolic home of western democracy.
They looted and broke into congressional offices, while politicians donned gas masks and fled under armed guard.
Pro-Trump rioters standing in the Rotunda after storming the Capitol building
Another social-media user tweeted: ‘Don’t remember her saying this when BLM [Black Lives Matter] and Antifa were burning businesses down and kicking peoples’ heads in during last summer’s rioting’. The LBC presenter responded: ‘You mistake me – again’
After Ms Babbit was shot dead, Ms Fogarty tweeted: ‘A woman has died and while my tweet was making a wider point about who gets shot in America – it was clumsy. Awful events’
Ms Babbit was shot dead inside the building, as three others died from ‘individual medical emergencies’ elsewhere on Capitol property.
Pipe bombs were also left outside the headquarters of the Democrat and Republican National Committees and a truck-full of rifles and Molotov cocktails seized.
Joe Biden described the rioters as ‘extremists’ staging an ‘insurrection’ that ‘bordered on sedition’ and called on Trump to order them away from the building.
Trump called the rioters ‘great patriots’ and said he ‘loved’ them – a move which saw him temporarily banned from social media.
Congress was eventually able to return to session after the National Guard was called in and a 6pm curfew imposed, with many Republicans dropping their opposition to the vote – and Mike Pence eventually certifying Biden as the winner.
Trump will now leave office at the latest on January 20, when Biden is sworn in, if he is not impeached or declared unfit for office in the meantime.
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