The family of slain Air Force veteran and Jan. 6 demonstrator Ashli Babbitt filed a landmark $30 million lawsuit against the federal government. Her surviving husband and estate accused the defendants of “wrongful death, assault and battery, and various negligence issues.”
Babbitt was killed more than two years ago by a single shot from then Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd. She was unarmed.
She was taken to Washington Hospital Center where she died of her injuries. The medical examiner determined her cause of death to be homicide.
Husband Aaron Babbitt filed the massive lawsuit seeking justice for his deceased wife. Legal activist group Judicial Watch will argue the case in California federal court on his behalf.
Organization president Tom Fitton declared the group is “honored to represent Ashli’s steadfast widower Aaron Babbitt and her estate in this legal action. Ashli was shot in cold blood, and the rule of law requires justice for her.”
BREAKING: @JudicialWatch Files $30 Million Wrongful Death Lawsuit against U.S. Government on Behalf of Ashli Babbitt’s Husband and Estatehttps://t.co/o7asveoVYf pic.twitter.com/5zrd94EQ2r
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) January 5, 2024
Biden’s Justice Department investigated the killing of Babbitt and decided that charges were not warranted.
The Judicial Watch filing asserted that Babbitt presented no threat to legislators at the Capitol. It also noted that the shooter had a checkered record concerning handling his firearm.
It claimed that Byrd once left the same pistol used to kill Babbitt, a Glock 22, in a public restroom. The filing said that the former lieutenant once fired into a vehicle allegedly stolen by young teenagers.
The suit further noted that Byrd had his law enforcement authority suspended for “failing to meet or complete semiannual firearms qualifications requirements.”
A video released in recent days showed a previously unseen view of the fatal shooting. The unarmed Babbitt was part of a group pushing into the Speaker’s lobby when Byrd appeared to raise his weapon and fire a shot.
The veteran immediately fell backward, bleeding profusely from her neck and shoulder.
According to the filing, Ashli flew across the country alone from California on Jan. 5, 2021, to participate in the Women for America First rally. It was held just south of the White House, and she attended to show her patriotism and admiration for then-President Donald Trump.
She was not, her husband and the lawsuit proclaimed, part of a group or an organized “insurrection.”
