Nearly four and a half years after U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd fatally shot Ashli Babbitt during the January 6, 2021, breach of the Capitol, her husband reached a settlement agreement on June 6 to resolve his $30 million wrongful death lawsuit against the federal government.
The settlement includes a payout of $4.975 million, though additional terms were not immediately disclosed, according to The Blaze.
“This fair settlement is a historic and necessary step for justice for Ashli Babbitt’s family. Ashli should never have been killed, and this settlement destroys the partisan narrative that justified her killing and shielded her shooter,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
Twenty-five percent of the settlement will be placed in a trust account pending the resolution of a potential claim by Ashli Babbitt’s former attorney, Terrell N. Roberts III. Earlier this year, Roberts filed a motion to intervene in the case, claiming entitlement to 40% of any awarded settlement. Roberts ended his professional relationship with Aaron Babbitt in early 2022, and Babbitt’s Washington-based attorney, Richard Driscoll, has requested that the matter be resolved through the Attorney/Client Arbitration Board of the D.C. Bar.
Contrary to repeated media claims, Judicial Watch handled the wrongful death lawsuit on a pro bono basis. While the federal government did not admit liability in the settlement, some observers view the agreement as an implicit acknowledgment by the Department of Justice that Byrd acted recklessly and used excessive force when he emerged from a concealed position near the House Speaker’s Lobby and shot Babbitt as she attempted to climb through a sidelight window just outside the chamber doors.
The lawsuit, filed on January 5, 2024, alleged that Byrd acted negligently with his Glock 22 sidearm and recklessly fired into a crowded hallway outside the Speaker’s Lobby. The complaint also accused the U.S. Capitol Police of negligence in supervising Byrd, citing his disciplinary record, including discharging his firearm at a fleeing vehicle near his residence in 2004 and leaving his service weapon on a toilet tank in the Capitol Visitor Center.
Court filings in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California indicate that Aaron Babbitt submitted multiple claims against the Capitol Police between June 2021 and January 2023. The lawsuit was filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, naming the federal government as the defendant, including the U.S. Capitol Police as a component agency.
According to the complaint, Byrd fired the shot that struck Ashli, a 14-year Air Force veteran, in the left anterior shoulder at 2:44 p.m. on January 6, 2021. The bullet “perforated her left brachial plexus, trachea, upper lobe of the right lung, and second anterior rib before coming to rest in her right anterior shoulder,” the filing states.
“Video recordings show her alive and conscious, writhing uncontrollably immediately after the shooting,” the lawsuit notes. “Ashli remained conscious for minutes or longer after being shot. She experienced extreme pain, suffering, mental anguish, and intense fear before slipping into pre-terminal unconsciousness.”
The suit also stated that nothing about the wound track described in the autopsy would have caused immediate death or instantaneous loss of consciousness, noting that her lungs contained blood, further confirming she was alive and breathing after being shot.
Although Byrd claimed he feared for his life, he “later confessed that he shot Ashli before seeing her hands, assessing her intentions, or even identifying her as female,” the lawsuit alleges. “Ashli was unarmed. Her hands were raised, empty, and in plain view of Lt. Byrd and other officers in the lobby. She posed no threat to anyone’s safety.”
