As part of a $30 million wrongful death lawsuit, a federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to furnish some information regarding the shooting death of unarmed protestor Ashli Babbitt on January 6 by a plainclothes Capitol Police officer.
Then-Lt. Michael Byrd, who claimed at the time that he had only fired his pistol as a last choice, shot and killed Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, as she crawled through a smashed door glass leading into a foyer outside the House of Representatives.
“In a sign that the case filed by Babbitt’s estate and Washington-based Judicial Watch has been greenlighted, U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes gave the government a month to address four of the seven counts in the lawsuit,” the Washington Examiner reported on Friday.
“Those four include the ‘wrongful’ death count as well as negligence and assault and battery claims against” Byrd, the outlet noted further.
Additionally, the court said that she will take into account further demands from Judicial Watch to relocate the trial to San Diego, the home of Babbitt’s husband. According to the article, the case was first moved to Washington, where the majority of January 6th cases have been decided.
“Ashli Babbitt’s family is thrilled the $30 million wrongful death lawsuit for her outrageous killing is moving full speed ahead,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton noted.
Babbitt, a security forces controller and decorated Air Force veteran, flew to Washington on January 6 to join the Save America event at the Ellipse, where then-President Donald Trump was scheduled to speak. The Examiner noted that she had no affiliation with any protest organization.
Daily Reminder
It's been 1310 days since the murder of Ashli Babbitt and Michael Byrd is still walking around free.#JusticeForAshliBabbit pic.twitter.com/bRafgl4WlT
— Kat™ The Hammer ⚒️ (@KatTheHammer1) August 8, 2024
The lawsuit holds Byrd liable for Babbitt’s death, claiming he neglected safety procedures, lacked proper training, and failed to give notice before shooting. Film footage that was just made public showed demonstrators smashing glass on swinging doors leading to the Speaker’s Lobby. Babbitt is finally seen passing through one of the broken panels before being shot.
The lawsuit says: “When Lt. Byrd shot and killed Ashli on January 6, 2021, he breached multiple, applicable standards of care governing (A) the safe use of a firearm; (B) the perception and assessment of imminent threats; (C) use of force levels and escalation/de-escalation of force; (D) the perception and assessment of relevant facts; (E) the use of warnings; (F) firing backdrops; and (G) obtaining timely, appropriate medical aid, among other breaches to be identified through discovery. Had Lt. Byrd adhered to these standards, he would not have fired, and Ashli would be alive today.”
After Babbitt passed away, investigations by the DOJ and Capitol Police found no evidence of misconduct by Byrd, which infuriated the former president’s followers.
Judicial Watch claimed that Washington courts are prejudiced against January 6 defendants during a Zoom hearing earlier last week, pointing out that the majority of convictions have taken place in these courts.
On the same day that Congress voted to validate President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, Babbitt’s passing emerged as a significant news item. The Examiner added that after violent images were shown on television, Trump called for protests at the Capitol, and the White House then asked demonstrators to disperse.
In January, Babbitt’s estate sued the Biden administration.
The suit, filed by legal watchdog organization Judicial Watch in the U.S. District Court Southern District of California on behalf of Aaron Babbitt, Ashli’s husband, says “the officer who shot Babbitt was ‘incompetent’ and ‘dangerous’ and should have seen that the 35-year-old posed no threat to Congress when she entered the House speaker’s lobby.”
