Justice Department to pay $5 million to family of Ashli Babbitt

The Trump administration has agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Ashli Babbitt, one of five people who died in or immediately after the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, according to The Washington Post. The Department of Justice will reportedly pay Babbitt’s family nearly $5 million.

Babbitt, then a 35-year-old Air Force veteran from California, was at the front lines of rioters rushing the Capitol doors leading to the Speaker’s Lobby, which leads to the House chamber. She was  attempting to jump through a shattered doorway when she was shot by a Capitol Police officer. Video footage from the day shows she had a Trump flag strewn over her backpack.

Babbitt’s family filed the lawsuit in early 2024, seeking $30 million. It argued that “Ashli posed no threat to the safety of anyone” and that she was unarmed and had her hands in the air when she was shot. 

In 2021, the Justice Department announced it had conducted an internal investigation and cleared Lt. Michael Byrd, the officer who fatally shot Babbitt, of any wrongdoing. A Capitol Police investigation also cleared the officer and found that his actions “potentially saved members and staff from serious injury and possible death from a large crowd of rioters.” The Justice Department under President Joe Biden opposed the case, and a trial was set for July 2026.

But the Trump administration has reversed that position, keeping in line with his campaign promise to issue pardons for about 1,500 rioters who faced convictions for their involvement in the riot. President Donald Trump repeatedly referred to January 6 as “a day of love” and the rioters as “patriots” and “hostages.” For many Trump supporters, Babbitt was cast as a martyr in a collective patriotic act. 

Trump released a pre-recorded video in October 2021 to mark Babbitt’s birthday in which he praised her actions and demanded justice for her death. 

“There was no reason Ashli should’ve lost her life that day,” Trump said in the video. “We must all demand justice for Ashli and her family, so, on this solemn occasion as we celebrate her life, we renew our call for a fair and nonpartisan investigation into the death of Ashli Babbitt.” 

The events of January 6 — in which a mob of Trump supporters temporarily halted the certification of the legitimate results of the 2020 election — have been called an act of domestic terrorism by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It sparked the Department of Justice’s largest criminal investigation in the country’s history and led to more than 1,500 people being federally charged. Rioters brought firearms, knives, hatchets, pepper spray, baseball bats, stun guns and explosive devices to storm the building where lawmakers were voting to certify the 2020 election. Approximately 140 law enforcement officers were injured and $2.9 million worth of damage was done to the Capitol. Congress also impeached Trump  on grounds that he incited the riot – his second impeachment, for which he was acquitted – and held  separate committee hearings in 2022 to shed further light on the events of the day.