As Congressional Democrats gear up for their latest thinly-disguised partisan witch hunt in their push for a January 6th Commission, the family of Ashli Babbitt is seeking justice.
Babbitt was the only person who died at the Capitol on January 6 by someone else’s hand—she was shot by a Capitol Hill Police officer. The identity of this officer has yet to be released, but it looks like that’s about to change with the Babbitt family lawsuit.
The attorney representing the family of Ashli Babbitt, the woman shot and killed by U.S. Capitol Police during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, plans to sue the agency for more than $10 million and has already put officials on notice, demanding accountability for the slain Air Force veteran.“Right now, we have no accountability — zero accountability — they give no explanation to justify the shooting and they do not even identify the officer. That is what they do in autocratic countries, not in the United States,” said Terrell N. Roberts III, a Maryland-based attorney.Mr. Roberts takes issue with those members of Congress who oversee the Capitol Police but who have not demanded transparency when it comes to the Jan. 6 shooting.“If we call ourselves a free people, you would think that Congress would be the first to demand transparency of its own police agency but you don’t hear that.”. . . . Mr. Roberts, the family attorney, told The Washington Times he’ll sue the Capitol Police under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which generally requires a notice of six months before filing a lawsuit.The family will also pursue claims against the officer who shot Babbitt.The Justice Department and Capitol Police have repeatedly declined to identify the officer involved in the killing.Mr. Roberts said he’s reviewing video of the shooting that was captured by private citizens using their iPhones. He said he also won’t identify the officer by name at this time.
The 35-year-old Air Force veteran was shot with a round from an anonymous officer’s “service pistol” in the Capitol building after she attempted to climb through a broken glass door in the hallway near the Speaker’s Lobby. Babbitt received aid in the Capitol from a Capitol Police emergency response team before she was transported to the Washington Hospital Center where she later died.The family plans to sue the law enforcement agency under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows for monetary compensation if “a personal injury or death, caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of a Government employee while acting within the scope of his or her office or employment, under circumstances where the United States, if a private person, would be liable in accordance with the law of the place where the act or omission occurred.”. . . . “The purpose of the case is to hold the police officer and the Capitol Police accountable for violating Ashli Babbitt’s constitutional right — that is the purpose,” Roberts said, noting that he is “reviewing video of the shooting that was captured by private citizens using their iPhones.”Roberts also expressed frustration that legislators — including those that voted for the partisan, power-grab Jan. 6 Commission — have not demanded further information or answers from the law enforcement agency.
In April, the DOJ announced that it had closed its investigation of Babbitt’s death claiming “there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution” (archive link).
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