Judicial Watch: Federal Judge Orders Biden Justice Department to Answer Ashli Babbitt $30 Million Wrongful Death Lawsuit

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that following a hearing on August 6, Judge Ana C. Reyes of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the U.S. Department of Justice to answer the $30 million wrongful death suit filed on behalf of the estate of Ashli Babbitt, who was killed in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, by then-Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd. The court gave the government 30 days, until September 6, to answer the complaint. The order also states that Judicial Watch can file a reply brief by August 23 in its petition to have the case returned to Babbitt’s home of San Diego where it was originally filed: 

Minute Entry for proceedings held before Judge Ana C. Reyes: Pre-motion Conference held on 8/6/2024 via Zoom. For the reasons stated on the record, Plaintiff may file a reply brief by 8/23/24. Defendant to file a partial answer as to counts 1,2,6 and 7 by 9/6/2024. Rule 26 to be filed by 9/13/2024. Status Conference set for 9/20/2024 at 03:00 PM in Telephonic/VTC before Judge Ana C. Reyes.

Babbitt, 35, owned and operated a successful pool business with her husband Aaron. Ashli traveled alone from San Diego to Washington, DC, to attend the Women for America First (aka Save America) rally on January 6, 2021, at the Ellipse. 

The wrongful death lawsuit was filed on January 5, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California 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 (Estate of Ashli Babbitt and Aaron Babbitt, et al. v. United States of America (No. 3:24-cv-00033)).

The Justice Department must respond to the lawsuit’s claims for wrongful death, assault and battery, negligence and a claim for “survival action” under federal law. (As a result of the court’s order, the lawsuit will proceed on these key counts, as the court considers the Biden administration’s request to dismiss certain other claims.)

The Judicial Watch complaint recounts:

The shooting occurred at the east entrance to the Speaker’s Lobby. After demonstrators filled the hallway outside the lobby, two individuals in the crowded, tightly packed hallway struck and dislodged the glass panels in the lobby doors and the right door sidelight. Lt. Byrd, who is a United States Capitol Police commander and was the incident commander for the House on January 6, 2021, shot Ashli on sight as she raised herself up into the opening of the right door sidelight. Lt. Byrd later confessed that he shot Ashli before seeing her hands or assessing her intentions or even identifying her as female. Ashli was unarmed. Her hands were up in the air, empty, and in plain view of Lt. Byrd and other officers in the lobby.

The lawsuit points out that, based on prior incidents involving Lt. Byrd, the Capitol Police, Capitol Police Board, and ultimately Congress, as Lt. Byrd’s employer, “knew or should have known that Lt. Byrd was prone to behave in a dangerous or otherwise incompetent manner.”

The next hearing is set for September 20.

“Ashli Babbitt’s family is thrilled the $30 million wrongful death lawsuit for her outrageous killing is moving full speed ahead,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said.

 In April 2024, records from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in a separate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit showed that the FBI opened a criminal investigation of Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt after her killing and listed four “potential violations of federal law,” including felony rioting and civil disorder.

In September 2023, Judicial Watch received records from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, a component of the Department of Justice, in a FOIA lawsuit that detail the extensive apparatus the Biden Justice Department set up to investigate and prosecute January 6 protestors.

A previous review of records from that lawsuit highlighted the prosecution declination memorandum justifying the decision not to prosecute U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd for the shooting death of Babbitt.

In January 2023, documents from the Department of the Air Force, Joint Base Andrews, MD, showed U.S. Capitol Police Lieutenant Michael Byrd was housed at taxpayer expense at Joint Base Andrews after he shot and killed U.S. Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. 

In November 2021, Judicial Watch released multiple audio, visual and photo records from the DC Metropolitan Police Department about the shooting death of Babbitt on January 6, 2021, in the U.S. Capitol Building. The records included a cell phone video of the shooting and an audio of a brief police interview of the shooter, Byrd. 

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