US Capitol Officer Cleared Of Wrongdoing In Fatal Jan. 6 Shooting

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Department of Justice will not pursue criminal charges against the U.S. Capitol officer who shot and killed 35-year-old Ashli Babbitt as she tried to break through a door at the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection on Jan. 6.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, with the Metropolitan Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division, investigated Babbitt’s shooting. Officials determined there was insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution.

Officials from MPD’s Internal Affairs Division informed a representative of Babbitt’s family on Wednesday of the determination not to pursue charges against the Capitol Police officer.

The Justice Department said officials made their decision after examining video footage posted on social media, statements from the officer involved and other officers and witnesses to the events, physical evidence from the scene of the shooting, and the results of an autopsy.

The Capitol Police and federal prosecutors have not released the name of the police officer who shot and killed Babbitt.

Babbitt, a 14-year Air Force veteran from San Diego and a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, was among rioters attempting to breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. She was shot attempting to access the broken window of a door to the Speaker's Lobby. On the other side of that door was the House chamber, where members of Congress sheltered in place.

Video footage sent to The Washington Post showed the moment Babbitt attempted to bust down the door separating a mob of raucous Trump supporters from lawmakers. As she climbed up toward the mangled door, the police officer shot her.

Babbitt was one of five people who officials said died during the Capitol siege, including Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick.

According to The Washington Post, federal prosecutors have charged at least eight people who were in the crowd around Babbitt in the moments before she was shot. They include Christopher Ray Grider, a Texas winery owner who is accused of trying to kick in the Speaker’s Lobby doors; Zachary Jordan Alam, of Pennsylvania, who is accused of smashing the glass pane Babbitt attempted to crawl through; and Chad Barrett Jones, of Kentucky, who is accused of smashing another pane with a wood stick that had a Trump flag attached.

The Justice Department said officials determined that Babbitt "was among a mob of people that entered the Capitol building and gained access to a hallway outside 'Speaker’s Lobby,' which leads to the Chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives."

At the time, the Capitol Police were evacuating members of Congress from the Chamber, "which the mob was trying to enter from multiple doorways," the Justice Department said in a news release.

Police officers used furniture to barricade a set of glass doors separating the hallway and Speaker’s Lobby to try and stop the insurrectionists from entering the Speaker’s Lobby and the Chamber. Three police officers positioned themselves between the doors and the insurrections.

"Members of the mob attempted to break through the doors by striking them and breaking the glass with their hands, flagpoles, helmets, and other objects," the Justice Department said. "As members of the mob continued to strike the glass doors, Ms. Babbitt attempted to climb through one of the doors where glass was broken out. An officer inside the Speaker’s Lobby fired one round from his service pistol, striking Ms. Babbitt in the left shoulder, causing her to fall back from the doorway and onto the floor."

A Capitol Police emergency response team, which had begun making its way into the hallway to try and subdue the mob, administered aid to Babbitt, who was transported to Washington Hospital Center, where she died from the gunshot injuries, according to the Justice Department.

The focus of the criminal investigation was to determine whether federal prosecutors could prove that the officer violated any federal laws, focusing on a federal criminal civil rights statute. In order to establish a violation of this statute, prosecutors need to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the officer acted willfully to deprive Babbitt of a right protected by the Constitution or other law.

The investigation revealed no evidence to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer willfully violated any law.

"Specifically, the investigation revealed no evidence to establish that, at the time the officer fired a single shot at Ms. Babbitt, the officer did not reasonably believe that it was necessary to do so in self-defense or in defense of the Members of Congress and others evacuating the House Chamber," the Justice Department said.

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