RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. Recently, Sears and Kmart were selling t-shirts online that read, “Ashli Babbitt, American Patriot.” Ashli Babbitt was a participant in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, where rioters stormed the building to protest the certification of Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. While attempting to climb through a broken window on a door that led to the Speaker’s Lobby, Babbit was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer, according to The New York Times. On July 6, Vox reporter Aaron Rupar tweeted a screenshot of one of the Babbit shirts, leading to backlash and both retailers pulling the items from their websites. The official Sears account replied to Rupar on Twitter that day: “Thank you for bringing this product to our attention. This item is no longer available for purchase on http://Sears.com or http://kmart.com.” It seems the shirts were listed through a third-party seller. RELATED: 7 Common Phrases That You Didn’t Know Have Racist Origins.
