Judicial Watch, a nonprofit American conservative activist group, announced Monday that a hearing has been set for Tuesday, August 6, in the Ashli Babbitt $30 million wrongful death suit filed on behalf of her estate. Babbit was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer during the Jan. 6 protests.
Judicial Watch posted to Twitter/X Monday and said Babbitt and her family “deserve accountability and justice”:
“Ashli Babbitt and her family deserve accountability and justice for her wrongful death on January 6. In short, there was no good reason for Lt. Byrd to ambush and shoot her,” Judicial Watch President @TomFitton (2/3). https://t.co/ffbkIHpp0t
— Judicial Watch ⚖️ (@JudicialWatch) August 5, 2024
The group and its president, Tom Fitton, wrote on their website about the filing and said the federal government was guilty of negligence, assault and battery, and more:
This is the first hearing to be held in the wrongful death lawsuit that 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 lawsuit includes claims against the U.S. Government for wrongful death, assault and battery, and various negligence issues.
Babbitt was a 35-year-old resident of San Diego, CA, where she 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.
Background:
Husband of Deceased Jan. 6 Protester Ashli Babbitt Files Wrongful Death Suit Against U.S. Government
New Report Raises More Questions About Ashli Babbitt Shooting
Officer Who Shot Ashli Babbitt Comes Forward, Claims He ‘Saved Lives’
They also accused the Biden administration of trying to escape accountability in the matter:
“But the Biden Justice Department, rather than admit government wrongdoing, is doing its best try to ensure Ashli never gets her full day in court,” @TomFitton (3/3). https://t.co/ffbkIHpp0t
— Judicial Watch ⚖️ (@JudicialWatch) August 5, 2024
The group described the events of that tragic day:
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 facts speak truth. 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.
There was no reason for Babbitt to die that day. She was unarmed except for a folding knife that was in her pocket and was not attacking or threatening anyone at the time she was shot. It will be interesting to see if anyone, including the shooter, Capitol Police Lieutenant Michael Byrd, will ever be held accountable, or if this administration and the legal system will continue to pretend like it never happened.
