The Department of Justice, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, has reached a “settlement in principle” with the family of Ashli Babbitt, the Jan. 6 protester who was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer.
Joseph Gonzalez, an attorney for DOJ, and Robert Sticht, an attorney for Babbitt’s husband, Aaron, announced the settlement at an emergency hearing Friday afternoon, CBS News reported.
The undisclosed settlement came in a $30 million case brought on behalf of the Babitt estate by the conservative activist group Judicial Watch.
“Ashli was unarmed,” the plaintiffs said in the lawsuit. “Her hands were up in the air, empty, and in plain view of [Capitol Police] Lt. [Michael] Byrd and other officers in the lobby. Ashli posed no threat to the safety of anyone.”
Politico’s Kyle Cheney was among the first to report on the settlement.
The DOJ, during then-President Joe Biden’s administration, defended the actions that Byrd took against Babbitt.
“Ms. Babbitt unlawfully entered the Capitol. She made her way to the east doors of the Speaker’s Lobby situated immediately behind the Chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives, the site of Joint Sessions of Congress. Although officers had barricaded the Speaker’s Lobby doors with heavy furniture, demonstrators broke through the glass panels of the lobby doors and matching windows (called ‘sidelights’) on either side of the doors,” the department previously stated.
“Michael Byrd, a U.S. Capitol Police lieutenant, was positioned on the other side of the lobby doors. When Ms. Babbitt, wearing a backpack, tried to climb through a sidelight into the Speaker’s Lobby, Lt. Byrd fatally shot her,” the DOJ added.
In April 2021, the department closed the investigation into Byrd.
For the record, Byrd, who is black, was a disciplinary problem for the Capitol Police and he had substantial job performance issues as well.
“The issues in Captain Michael Byrd’s background included a failed shotgun qualification test, a failed FBI background check for a weapon’s purchase, a 33-day suspension for a lost weapon and referral to Maryland state prosecutors for firing his gun at a stolen car fleeing his neighborhood, according to congressional and police documents obtained by Just the News.”
In August, the Biden Justice Department was ordered by a federal judge to provide some answers regarding the shooting of Ashli Babbitt as part of the lawsuit filed by her husband.
“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.
“Those four include the ‘wrongful’ death count as well as negligence and assault and battery claims against” Byrd, the outlet noted further.
The judge also indicated at the time she would consider additional requests from Judicial Watch to move the trial to San Diego, where Babbitt’s husband resides. The case was initially transferred to Washington, where most January 6th cases have been adjudicated, the report said.
“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.
Ashli Babbitt, a decorated Air Force veteran and security forces controller, traveled to Washington to attend the Save America rally on January 6 at the Ellipse, where then-President Trump gave a speech. She was not associated with any protest group, the Examiner pointed out.
The lawsuit blamed Byrd for Babbitt’s death, alleging he was inadequately trained, failed to follow safety protocols, and did not provide a warning before shooting.