The Capitol police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt during the January 6 riot at the Capitol has been exonerated.
The unnamed officer shot and killed Babbitt, 35, when Donald Trump protestors forced their way into the Capitol.
Following an internal investigation, the commander of the Capitol Police’s Office of Personal Responsibility announced: “no further action will be taken in this matter.”
In April, the Department of Justice announced that it wouldn’t file charges against the Capitol police officer, the Daily Mail reported. The internal probe ended the official investigation.
Despite the announcements, Babbits’ family says they will file a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit, The Washington Examiner reported. They say that since the officer was wearing plain clothes and didn’t issue a verbal command.
Terry Roberts, the family’s attorney, referenced the video which shows the Air Force veteran being shot. Roberts also pointed out that no one appears to duck for cover in the moments before Babbitt was shot and killed, suggesting that the cop gave no verbal warning.
However, the officer’s lawyer denied this claim in previous interviews, saying his client issued multiple verbal commands but wasn’t heard on the video because he was wearing a mask.
Air Force records show that Babbitt served multiple tours from 2004 to 2016 in the Middle East. NBC News reported that she had shown support for Donald Trump and promoted conservative activists and QAnon conspiracy theory movement leaders.
