It’s great news for justice. It’s great news for the family of Ashley Babbitt. They finally got their day in court, a day that the Biden administration has tried to basically stop and delay. And now they’re going to get more answers and more accountability for what happened to Ashley that day. Last week, we had an important federal court hearing in the $30 million wrongful death lawsuit that Judicial Watch filed on behalf of Ashley Babbitt’s estate and her family. And it was filed against the federal government, initially filed out in San Diego, California. The Biden administration didn’t want the case to proceed out there, and they successfully, at least for now, have moved it to here in Washington, D.C.

And the federal court judge who was assigned this case had a hearing about it last week. And let me give you the details. We’re still fighting and potentially going to appeal the removal of the case to Washington, D.C. for a variety of reasons. But more – well, as importantly – I’ll leave it to the lawyers to say whether it’s more importantly. But as importantly, at least from my perspective, is the court ordered the Biden administration to answer Ashley’s core complaint in a few weeks, meaning I think by September 6th. And here’s the – let me get to the press release to get the detail here.

So the hearing was August 6th, and the judge gave the government 30 days. So it is September 6th. Let me give you the specifics on it first. Hold on one second. The Justice Department must respond to this lawsuit’s claims for wrongful death, assault and battery, negligence, and a claim for survival action under federal law. And so what happened is the government wants to answer those claims, and so now the case is going to proceed. Now, there are other claims that may be subject to dismissal, so there may – there’ll be fights over that. But here, they’re going to have to provide an answer, and I think we’re going to proceed to discovery, or at least I hope that’s the case.

I know enough about civil litigation as a non-lawyer to know that nothing’s ever certain. So in the ordinary course, I suspect we’d get discovery, but the government may seek to short-circuit that. But to me, it’s great news for justice. It’s great news for the family of Ashley Babbitt. They finally got their day in court, a day that the Biden administration has tried to basically stop and delay, and now they’re going to get more answers and more accountability for what happened to Ashley that day. And as you recall, she was shot for no good reason by then-Lieutenant Michael Byrd of the U.S.

Capitol Police. Here is the video of her being killed that day. I can’t believe he shot her. I just can’t believe it. It just popped out there. It really ambushed her and shot her as she was crawling through that window. It’ll be $30 million. Some might argue that’s not enough for what happened to her. Babbitt, 35, owned and operated a successful pool business with her husband, Erin. She traveled alone from San Diego to Washington to attend the Women’s America First Rally on January 6th. And as our complaint reads, the shooting occurred at the east entrance of 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 side light. Lieutenant Byrd, who was a U.S. United States Capitol Police commander and was the incident commander for the house on January 6th, 2021, shot Ashley on-site as she raced herself up into the opening of the right-door side light. Byrd later confessed that he shot Ashley before seeing her hands or assessing her attentions or even identifying her as a female. Ashley was unarmed. Her hands were up in the air, empty and in plain view, as Byrd and other officers, plain view of Byrd and the other officers in the lobby.

As one witness said, you murdered her. We highlight that in the complaint. And Byrd, of course, has been given special treatment by the Justice Department, the DC police and, of course, the U.S. Capitol Police. He suffered no consequences administratively. He wasn’t even seriously investigated, no grand jury investigation, as best we can tell. He didn’t really fully cooperate with the investigation, such as it was, into Ashley’s death. Ashley was the only official homicide victim that day. Yes, I know there were other protesters who were killed that day or died that day, and some have alleged, for instance, that Ms.

Boyland was a homicide victim. But, I mean, I’m not arguing that. For purposes of this discussion, though, Ashley is the only official homicide victim, determined to have been shot and killed by Lieutenant Byrd. And now the Justice Department, the Biden administration, despite their best efforts and their refusal to come to grips with what Byrd did, and frankly, Congress’s refusal to come to grips with what Byrd did, is going to have to answer in a few weeks. So this is great work by Judicial Watch’s lawyers, and I know the family is thrilled to death that this case is proceeding, because Justice has been a long time coming.

Ashley’s Babbitt’s family, as I say, is thrilled, the $30 million wrongful death lawsuit for her outrageous killing is moving full speed ahead. So, as events warrant, and we’ll see what the government says, maybe I’ll come back here and talk to you about it. But pray for justice for Ashley, and you can be sure Judicial Watch will continue to do everything we can to provide justice for Ashley and vindicate her memory. Thanks for watching. Don’t forget to hit that subscribe button and like our video down below. [tr:trw].

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