The Trump administration is expected to pay $5 million to the family of Ashli Babbitt in the latest stunning turnaround in the government’s posture toward January 6.
The move comes after the Justice Department reversed its earlier position of fighting the suit after family members sued seeking $30 million.
U.S. Capitol Police Officer Michael Byrd shot Babbitt in the neck as she sought to climb through a broken window into the House Speaker’s Lobby, an area just steps from the House floor after Trump supporters penetrated the Capitol that day.
Trump portrayed Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran, as a martyr during his reelection campaign, where he also vowed to pardon January 6 defendants, which he did soon after taking office.
One witness said Babbitt climbed through the window even as Capitol police officers yelled to ‘Get back! Get down! Get out of the way!’
The Washington Post reported the settlement, after lawyers for the two sides had previously told a judge they had reached an agreement in principle.
Byrd was cleared in an internal investigation and the Justice Department in 2021 decided not to pursue criminal charges against the Capitol Police officer in 2021 and closed its investigation.
According to a DOJ release at the time, ‘USCP officers used furniture to barricade a set of glass doors separating the hallway and Speaker’s Lobby to try and stop the mob from entering the Speaker’s Lobby and the Chamber, and three officers positioned themselves between the doors and the mob.’
The Trump Justice Department has reportedly reached a $5 million settlement with the family of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by a Capitol police officer on January 6
It continued: ‘Members of the mob attempted to break through the doors by striking them and breaking the glass with their hands, flagpoles, helmets, and other objects. Eventually, the three USCP officers positioned outside the doors were forced to evacuate. 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.
The DOJ, now headed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, switched its position after Trump won the election.
Two sources told the Post the government had agreed to pay $5 million in taxpayer funds to the family, with a third going to attorney’s fees to conservative group Judicial Watch and lawyer Richard Driscoll.
A Judicial Watch source couldn’t confirm or deny a settlement number and said the group was not getting a contingency fee.
Babbitt was shot while climbing through a broken panel entering the House Speaker’s Lobby
President Trump has called himself a ‘big fan’ of Babbitt, who was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer on January 6
Babbitt’s husband, Aaron Babbitt, filed the $30 million suit accusing the government of ‘wrongful death, assault and battery and various negligence issues’. The suit said she was unarmed and ‘her hands were up in the air, empty, and in plain view of Byrd and other officers in the Speaker’s lobby’.
Five people died during or immediately after the riot, including Babbitt and Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was among those battling the MAGA mob.
Trump has described Babbitt’s shooting as a ‘murder’ and has described Babbitt as an innocent victim in interviews. He has falsely said repeatedly since regaining the White House that he won the 2020 election.
‘I’m a big fan of Ashli Babbitt, OK, and Ashli Babbitt was a really good person who was a big MAGA fan, Trump fan, and she was innocently standing there — they even say trying to sort of hold back the crowd,’ he told Newsmax in March. ‘And a man did something unthinkable to her when he shot her, and I think it’s a disgrace. I’m going to look into that.’
