CV NEWS FEED // A conservative group filed a civil suit against the federal government, seeking $30 million in damages for the killing of Ashli Babbitt, a veteran who was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer three years ago.
Judicial Watch announced in a press relase Friday that it has
filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. Government on behalf of the family of Ashli Babbitt, the U.S. Air Force veteran who was shot and killed inside the U.S. Capitol by then-Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd on January 6, 2021.
“The lawsuit includes claims against the U.S. Government for wrongful death, assault and battery, and various negligence issues,” the press release continued.
Judicial Watch indicated that the suit was filed on behalf of Babbitt’s estate and her widower, Aaron Babbitt.
The announcement came one day shy of the three-year anniversary of Babbitt’s killing. She was 35 years old at the time of her death.
The slain veteran was a business owner from San Diego, CA, who had served in the Air Force for 12 years. Per the Air Force Times, she had deployed overseas on at least four occasions, “including to Afghanistan in 2005, Iraq in 2006, and the United Arab Emirates in 2012 and 2014.”
“Babbitt’s awards include the Iraq Campaign Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal,” the Air Force Times added.
“Ashli loved her country and wanted to show her support for President Trump’s America First policies and to see and hear the president speak live while he remained in office,” Judicial Watch stated in the suit:
Ashli did not go to Washington as part of a group or for any unlawful or nefarious purpose. She was there to exercise what she believed were her God-given, American liberties and freedoms.
Judicial Watch wrote that Byrd, the officer who shot and killed Babbitt, “later confessed that he shot Ashli before seeing her hands or assessing her intentions or even identifying her as female.”
“Ashli was unarmed,” the suit continued. “Her hands were up in the air, empty, and in plain view of Lt. Byrd and other officers in the lobby.”
“The facts speak truth,” Judicial Watch emphasized. “Ashli was ambushed when she was shot by Lt. Byrd. Multiple witnesses at the scene yelled, ‘you just murdered her.’”
“Lt. Byrd was never charged or otherwise punished or disciplined for Ashli’s homicide,” Judicial Watch pointed out.
In 2022, Aaron Babbitt told Newsmax host Greg Kelly that his late wife had shouted “Stop! Don’t! Wait!” before Byrd fired the bullet that ended her life. The widower also said she was “trying to play by the rules” when she was inside the Capitol.
“They let everybody in,” he said. “They didn’t stop anybody from coming in.”
He further claimed that also while in the Capitol, his late wife had punched a rioter who had broken a window.
“She had been yelling at them to stop,” Babbitt said:
She was [an] all-around American girl. She loved serving her country. She loved moving back to California. She loved sports. She was my best friend, you know, and every day that goes by, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss her.
Last year, Judicial Watch joined CatholicVote in suing the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for information regarding the Bureau’s targeting of Catholic Americans.