Breaking: Ashli Babbitt Wrongful Death Case Set for Trial | Judicial Watch

DOJ did nothing. Capitol Police did nothing. Congress did nothing. And so, once again, it’s up to Judicial Watch. We work with their family, did a comprehensive investigation, and filed this $30 million lawsuit. So, one of the worst scandals, I know there are so many, the last few years was the lack of accountability for the death of Ashley Babbitt, the only official homicide victim on 9-11. Excuse me. On January 6th. The left thinks it’s 9-11. It was January 6th. There’s a nice photo of Ashley. She was killed by Lieutenant Byrd, U.S. Capitol Hill Police Lieutenant at the time.

There’s her husband, Aaron, with her. Shot for no reason. No good reason. I mean, he has an explanation, which is wanting, as we demonstrate in the lawsuit we filed for Ashley Babbitt, her estate and her family, $30 million wrongful death action. And here’s the video of her being unlawfully killed, in our view, by the Capitol Hill Police Officer, Lieutenant Byrd. I still can’t believe he shot her like that. Lunacy. Shooting into a crowd. Police officers were behind them. Other civilians were there, and just shot into a crowd, and there was no accountability for it. He didn’t cooperate.

Judicial Watch uncovered. And, of course, he was protected by the powers that be. He was put up in General’s quarters at a hotel on Andrews Air Force Base, Joint Base Andrews, for six months. We didn’t even know his name until almost, I think it was not until the fall of 2021. What other police officer involved in a shooting like that would be able to mask themselves that way? What a cover-up. DOJ did nothing. Capitol Police did nothing. Congress did nothing. And so, once again, it’s up to Judicial Watch. We worked with her family, did a comprehensive investigation, and filed this $30 million lawsuit.

And this week, or last week, actually, a federal court here in the District of Columbia set a trial date for the lawsuit. It’s been officially set for July 20, 2026. And in the meantime, Judicial Watch will conduct discovery, and discovery means essentially gathering evidence, right? Our lawyers will be getting documents, other information from the government, and witnesses, and testimony from government witnesses and such. And that’s going to be a massive undertaking by Judicial Watch’s legal team. But this is a massive issue. It’s a massive lawsuit. And it goes to the heart of the fake news about January 6.

Because, as I said, the only official homicide victim is that innocent, Ashley Babbitt, who was killed unlawfully, as the lawsuit alleges, by Capitol Hill police officer. And in the meantime, we’re still fighting, transferring the case back to California, where it was initially filed, because we think there’s bias in it. Well, A, generally speaking, the law requires it to be heard in the jurisdiction in which it was filed, where Ashley lived. But also, there’s bias here on January 6, and bias against Ashley. But in the meantime, the court is moving it along here in Washington, D.C., which is good.

Ashley was 35. She owned and operated a successful pool business with her husband, Erin. She traveled alone from San Diego to D.C. to attend the Women for America First, the Save America Rally, on January 6, 2021. We filed the wrongful death lawsuit for her, her family, on January 5, 2024, over in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The Biden administration came in and immediately tried to move it, successfully initially, to here in Washington, D.C., for obvious reasons. The lawsuit includes claims against the government for wrongful death, assault and battery, and various negligence issues.

And I want to read a little bit from the lawsuit to give you a flavor and detail of that terrible day. The shooting occurred at the east entrance to the speaker’s lobby. After demonstrators filled the hallway outside the lobby, two individuals in a crowded, tightly packed hallway struck and dislodged the glass panels in the lobby doors. And you saw that going on in the video. And the right-door side light. Lieutenant Byrd, who was the United States Capitol Police commander and was the incident commander for the House on January 6, shot Ashley on sight as she raised 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 intentions or even identifying her as female. He might as well have just closed his eyes and fired. Ashley was unarmed. Her hands were up in the air, empty and in plain view, of Byrd and the other officers in the lobby. The facts speak truth. Ashley was ambushed when she was shot by Lieutenant Byrd. Multiple witnesses at the scene yelled, you just murdered her. Byrd was never charged or otherwise punished or disciplined for Ashley’s homicide. Byrd, who was the U.S. Capitol Police commander and was the incident commander of the House on January 6, 2021, shot Ashley as she raised herself up into the opening of the right-door side light.

Not one member of Congress was in the lobby, which was guarded by multiple armed police officers. Additional armed officers were in the hallway outside the lobby, were on the adjoining stairway. There was a stairway just behind Ashley coming up into the hallway, and they were on there and entering the hallway from the stairs at the time of the shooting. Ashley could not have seen Byrd, who was positioned far to Ashley’s left and on the opposite side of the doors, near and opening to the retiring room, a distance of approximately 15 feet and an angle of approximately 160 degrees.

So Ashley’s coming in like this and Byrd’s over here behind a column. Sergeant Timothy Lively, one of the armed officers guarding the lobby doors from the hallway, later told officials investigating the shooting, I saw him. There was no way that woman would have seen that. Byrd, who was not in uniform, did not identify himself as a police officer or otherwise make his presence known to Ashley. Byrd did not give Ashley any warnings or commands before shooting her dead. Ashley’s family is relieved the case is moving forward to trial, and of course moving forward generally in all fronts.

They seek justice and accountability for Ashley’s violent and lawless death at the hands of U.S. Capitol Police Lieutenant Byrd. So yeah, this is about as an important lawsuit as judicial watch has ever pursued. And you know why. You know exactly why, because it was misconduct that led to the death of Ashley Babbitt by Lieutenant Byrd. In this case, we’ve already shown and alleged in our materials that Byrd was a disaster in terms of competence as a police officer, a disaster. So this case is important, and it’s important for the future of the country that it proceed.

And whenever the trial comes, we’re going to be prepared to try to obtain justice for Ashley Babbitt. And we do it with your support. I encourage you to support our work in this regard. Go to judicialwatch.org. And if you like what we’re doing for Ashley or any of our other cases, to ensure that the government is held fully accountable to the rule of law and the American people know what they’re up to, then I encourage you to support our work at judicialwatch.org. Thanks for watching. Don’t forget to hit that subscribe button and like our video down below.

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