The family of Capitol riots participant Ashli Babbitt is suing the U.S. government for $30 million, for a range of allegations including negligence and wrongful death. The suit comes three years after Babbitt, 35, died from a gunshot sustained during the attack as she attempted to enter the Speaker’s Lobby.
The complaint, which comes from Babbitt’s husband Aaron and her estate, alleges assault and battery; negligence; negligent supervision discipline, and retention; negligent training; survival; and wrongful death. The conservative activist group Judicial Watch is representing the family. The nonprofit group did not return a request for comment from The Daily Beast.
“Ashli loved her country and wanted to show her support for President Trump’s America First policies and to see and hear the president speak live while he remained in office,” the complaint states.
ADVERTISEMENT
According to the lawsuit, U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd shot Babbitt while demonstrators crowded the “tightly packed” hallway outside the Speaker’s Lobby, and after “two individuals… struck and dislodged the glass panels in the lobby doors and the right door sidelight.”
The Air Force veteran had allegedly hoisted herself into the sidelight opening when Byrd shot her left shoulder. She was later pronounced dead at Washington Hospital Center.
“Ashli did not go to Washington as part of a group or for any unlawful or nefarious purpose,” the complaint states. “She was there to exercise what she believed were her God-given, American liberties and freedoms.”
The lawsuit adds that at the time she was shot, Babbitt “was unarmed. Her hands were up in the air, empty, and in plain view of Lt. Byrd and other officers in the lobby. Ashli posed no threat to the safety of anyone.” The complaint claims that Byrd “ambushed” Babbitt, and that he “was not in uniform, did not identify himself as a police officer or otherwise make his presence known.”
In April of 2021, Roll Call reported that the Department of Justice had announced that the officer who shot Babbitt—whom the department opted not to name—would not face criminal charges.
The department said in a statement that its investigation had “revealed no evidence to establish that, at the time the officer fired a single shot at Ms. Babbitt, the officer did not reasonably believe that it was necessary to do so in self-defense or in defense of the Members of Congress and others evacuating the House Chamber.”
Months later, in August, an internal investigation by Capitol Police found that Byrd had acted lawfully.
“USCP officers had barricaded the Speaker’s Lobby with furniture before a rioter shattered the glass door,” Capitol Police said in a statement, per CBS News. “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.”
CBS News reported then that the involved officer (whom the department chose not to name back then for his safety) would not face internal discipline; the department stated that he’d “potentially saved members and staff from serious injury and possible death.”
Capitol Police did not return a request for comment from The Daily Beast.
