Capitol Officer and Police to be Sued for $10 Million By Ashli Babbit’s Family
The family of the woman killed while climbing through a U.S. Capitol window has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the United States Capitol Police.
According to a report from Zenger News, Terry Roberts, the Babbitt family’s lawyer, has announced plans to file a civil suit for Ashli Babbit's shooting death by Capitol Police in the amount of approximately $10 million.
Ashli Babbit, 35, was U.S. Air Force Gulf War veteran who traveled to Washington to participate in the January 6 insurrection. Protesters were hoping to to stop Congress from certifying President Biden's Electoral College victory.
“We intend to vindicate Ashli’s constitutional rights, which were egregiously violated,” Roberts stated to Zenger, referring to a Fourth Amendment claim.
“A rookie police officer would not have shot this woman,” Roberts told Zenger News. “If she committed any crime by going through the window and into the Speaker’s Lobby, it would have been trespassing. Some misdemeanor crime. All a rookie cop would have done is arrest her.”
A press release from the United States Department of Justice on April 14, announced the closure of the investigation into the death of Ashli Babbitt.
Officials examined video footage posted on social media, statements from the officer involved and other officers and witnesses to the events, physical evidence from the scene of the shooting, and the results of an autopsy. Based on that investigation, officials determined that there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution.
The investigation further determined that Ms. Babbitt was among a mob of people that entered the Capitol building and gained access to a hallway outside “Speaker’s Lobby,” which leads to the Chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives. As members of the mob continued to strike the glass doors, Ms. Babbitt attempted to climb through one of the doors where glass was broken out. An officer inside the Speaker’s Lobby fired one round from his service pistol, striking Ms. Babbitt in the left shoulder, causing her to fall back from the doorway and onto the floor.
A USCP emergency response team, which had begun making its way into the hallway to try and subdue the mob, administered aid to Ms. Babbitt, who was transported to Washington Hospital Center, where she succumbed to her injuries.