Wrongful death lawsuit filed by Ashli Babbitt’s family gets first federal hearing

A federal court held the first hearing Tuesday in a $30 million wrongful death lawsuit brought by the estate of Ashli Babbitt, the woman who was shot dead at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes went over arcane pre-trial matters and scheduled September deadlines on motions and replies during a hearing that lasted roughly 40 minutes.

She urged counsel to get on the same page regarding how to procure and exchange pre-trial evidence, known as discovery, and warned of “consequences” if they did not.

While arcane in substance, the hearing was a notable milestone in the civil case emanating from Babbitt’s death. The suit alleges the U.S. government is responsible for wrongful death, assault, battery and negligence.

Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran, died in the Capitol riot after she was shot by U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd near the floor of the House of Representatives.

The attack unfolded after then-President Donald Trump contested the 2020 election results and, in remarks near the White House, urged supporters to march to the Capitol to voice their objection to the certification of President Biden’s win.

The lawsuit says Babbitt traveled from San Diego, California, to Washington in January 2021.

She attended Mr. Trump’s speech at the Ellipse near the White House before walking to the Capitol, entering the Senate side “long after others had done so” and being directed by Capitol Police to head to the House side, the civil complaint says.

Babbitt eventually made her way to 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,” the lawsuit says. “Lt. Byrd, who is a USCP 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.”

The lawsuit says Babbitt was not armed and the police did not see her hands or know her intentions before shooting her.

“Ashli posed no threat to the safety of anyone. Not one member of Congress was in the lobby, which was guarded by multiple armed police officers,” the lawsuit says.

The Capitol Police determined in 2021 that Lt. Byrd’s actions were “lawful and within department policy” and he would not face discipline.
Still, the shooting has reverberated politically and split Republicans.

Then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy defended Lt. Byrd in February 2023, saying he “did his job,” while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene sympathized with the Babbitt family and called for a trial over the shooting.

Mr. Trump once labeled the officer a “thug” who was “not just ‘doing his job’ when he shot and killed Great Patriot Ashli Babbitt at point blank range.”

“Despite trying to keep him anonymous, shielded, and protected, this MISFIT proudly showed up on NBC Fake Nightly News ’bragging’ about the killing,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He was not a hero but a COWARD, who wanted to show how tough he was. ASHLI BABBITT WAS MURDERED!!!”

The violence shocked the nation and spawned a second impeachment trial of Mr. Trump, who was acquitted by the Senate. He still faces criminal prosecution around his post-election actions, though the courts are navigating various legal issues around those cases.

Three other Trump supporters died during the Jan. 6 riot, two of heart attacks and one from a drug overdose.

Hours after clashing with rioters, Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died of a stroke, which the medical examiner deemed a death from natural causes. Scores of police officers were injured, and four officers who responded to the onslaught later died by suicide.