Trump Administration Agrees to Pay $5 Million to Family of Slain Jan. 6 Rioter Ashli Babbit
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
The Trump administration has agreed to pay millions to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Ashli Babbitt.
Babbitt, 35, was fatally shot by police during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. According to The Washington Post, her family will receive roughly one-sixth of the $30 million sought in the lawsuit.
During a May 2 hearing in US District Court in Washington, attorneys for the Department of Justice and lawyers for Babbitt’s estate informed Judge Ana Reyes that a settlement had been reached.
Two people said to be familiar with the settlement told the Post that the Justice Department has agreed to pay just under $5 million to Babbitt’s family.
The Air Force veteran and Trump supporter was shot as she attempted to climb through a broken window leading into the Speaker’s Lobby during the riot.
The officer, Michael Byrd, was later cleared of wrongdoing by federal investigators.
Last year, Babbitt’s family filed suit against the federal government, alleging excessive force and seeking damages over her death. The suit was set to go to trial next summer.
The family claimed in the suit that Babbitt was not a threat:
Lt. Byrd later confessed that he shot Ashli before seeing her hands or assessing her intentions or even identifying her as female. Ashli 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. Not one member of Congress was in the lobby, which was guarded by multiple armed police officers.
President Donald Trump has referred to her death as a “murder” and called for justice.
In a March interview, Trump said he was unaware of the lawsuit but described Babbitt as “a really good person” and a “big MAGA fan.”
Last February, Trump blamed Babbitt’s death on Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
“I think it was an insurrection caused by Nancy Pelosi,” Trump told reporters. “This was an insurrection, if it was an insurrection, which, there were no guns, there were no anything, except for the fact that they shot Ashli Babbitt.”
