It’s one thing to pardon or commute the sentence of every defendant involved in the insurrection of January 6. It’s another to propose the return of restitution by the insurrectionists, the “roughly $400,000 collected” to cover the roughly $3 million in damage they caused during their Day of Love. But why, oh why, would the government settle a claim for excessive force for the killing of Ashli Babbitt?
The Department of Justice has agreed in principle to settle a $30 million wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Ashli Babbitt, the woman fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer during the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol.
It’s not as if the entire scenario wasn’t captured on video, readily available for anyone who cared to see.
The January 6th insurrection is now the subject of reimagination, a Trumpian fantasy where “patriots” were just taking a ordinary tour of the capital, through windows into the House chamber as tourists sometimes do, with a capital police officer pointing a gun in their face.
Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran and vocal Trump supporter, was shot while attempting to climb through a broken window leading to the Speaker’s Lobby, where members of Congress were sheltering.
Officer Michael Byrd, who fired the shot, was previously cleared of wrongdoing following an internal Capitol Police investigation and a separate DOJ review.
The family’s lawsuit, filed in January 2024, alleged Byrd used excessive force and claimed the government failed to properly train officers to handle the situation.
There is an argument to be made that Babbitt did not present a threat of deadly force, such that Byrd’s shooting her with his weapon exceeded the level of force necessary to repel her. There is also an argument to be made that Babbitt was merely one of a great many people who had broken into the capital, violently attacked capital police, and were in the process of trying to gain access into the House chamber to cause serious bodily harm, even death, to congressional representatives. As for the training of Lt. Byrd, it remains unclear what training would have altered his response to an insurrection that could well have ended with the killing of Nancy Pelosi, among others.
But even assuming that the Trump Department of Justice was inclined to pursue the Trumpian fantasy that this wasn’t an insurrection, that these individuals who believed Trump’s lie that the election was rigged and stolen, and that Ashli Babbitt’s attempt to climb through the window of a door blocked by capital police to gain entry into the House chamber anteroom, what possible reason would there be to settle the matter for the astounding amount of $30 million?
President Donald Trump has frequently championed Babbitt’s cause, referring to her death as a “murder” and calling for justice.
In a March interview, Trump said he was unaware of the lawsuit but described Babbitt as “a really good person” and a “big MAGA fan.”
There are few things that matter more to Trump than Babbitt being his fan. And because Babbitt was a huge Trump fan, Trump and his cohorts pretended to care about Ashli Babbitt as well.
After her death, Babbitt became a martyr of the MAGA movement, frequently referenced by Republican lawmakers like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who has called on the Justice Department to consider pressing murder charges against Byrd.
Babbitt, an Air Force veteran and QAnon supporter, was also embraced by Donald Trump, who shortly after taking office in January issued blanket clemency for roughly 1,500 defendants in the Capitol attack. In 2021, Trump sent Babbitt’s family a personalized birthday video message. In March, during an interview with Newsmax, Trump said he was a “big fan of Ashli Babbitt.”
In the Trumpian reimagination of reality, Ashli Babbitt was killed just for being his supporter.
“Ashli Babbitt was a really good person who was a big MAGA fan, Trump fan, and she was innocently standing there,” Trump said.
Perhaps Trump never bothered to watch the video. Or more likely, feels little need to let reality affect what emits from his mouth. After all, there is far more benefit to Trump to pretend Ashli Babbitt was just some dedicated Trump fan who was innocently standing there when she was “murdered” by Lt. Boyd. But it’s not as if the money to be paid in settlement comes out of Trump’s pocket, even though he’s “really rich.”
The complaint seeks damages of $30 million. What is the amount for which the government agreed to settle? It remains confidential, at least for now, since it’s not as if taxpayer monies paid to an insurrectionist would be of interest to the public.
Had the case gone to trial and a jury returned a verdict in favor of Babbitt’s estate, that would be one thing. Trials are the mechanism by which such claims are resolved. But settling with the Babbitt family is little more than a payoff to the Insurrection Martyr to buy MAGA love at the taxpayers expense. Then again, it pales in comparison to the cost to the taxpayer of Trump’s golf weekends, so there’s that.
Absolutely ridiculous…. Thank you for articulating this
The idea that our government is going to give this woman’s family money after she was shot trying to break through a barricade and assault lawmakers… all while they fire hundreds of thousands of federal employees for “cost savings” makes me so unbelievably mad.
Not a single J6 rioter or protester was charged with insurrection. Not one. While a handful were charged and convicted of seditious conspiracy, the DoJ had the presence of mind to not charge anyone with “Insurrection” because there was no insurrection. In light of that fact, why do you keep calling the J6 riots an insurrection? You’re not doing your reputation as an otherwise credible objective observer any favor by repeating a nonsensical narrative.
They attacked the Capital with the intent of installing Trump as an unelected President. This came after Trump spent weeks using illegal methods while trying to overturn the results of a free and fair election. It was deferentially an attempted coup aka an insurrection.
Since when is shooting unarmed protestors OK?
Byrd is seen in photos that day resting his finger on the trigger even when not intending to shoot – a huge violation of basic weapon handling standards.
At the time he shot there were other officers both in front of and behind Babbitt. None of them perceived a threat of death or great bodily harm.
There is a reasonable chance he shot accidentally (i.e., negligently), given his poor trigger discipline and lack of perceived threat by all the other officers. Settling such a lawsuit isn’t crazy.
My perception of this from the get-go was accidental discharge, as he fired only once.
Just because one person leaves a really stupid comment doesn’t make it an opportunity for you to shout “I’m stupid too!!!” Byrd was shooting at point blank range at her head, which he can clearly see, with many people behind her in the line of fire. How many rounds would you expect him to fire?
Two, because that is what they are trained to do.
Unarmed protester, like Trump’s innocently standing there? She was crawling through a broken window blocked by capital police and nobody knew whether or not she was armed, but nobody fights police, then crawls through a broken window with a cop pointing a gun at your head to get into the House chamber to chant mean things.
As for nobody else shooting, somebody has to be the first and nobody but Byrd was in a position to safely shoot Babbitt without shooting someone else or having their weapon taken. These gymnastics just make you look foolish.
If these are the pro-Trump comments that made it through the filter, just imagine how stupid the others are.