The Trump administration is set to pay out nearly $5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of Ashli Babbitt, a rioter fatally shot during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News on Monday.
The settlement will resolve a $30 million suit brought by Babbitt’s estate and the conservative group Judicial Watch alleging the Capitol Police officer who shot her as she attempted to breach a broken window of the House speaker’s lobby was negligent in his duties.
This driver’s license photo from the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), provided to AP by the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office, shows Ashli Babbitt.
Maryland MVA/Courtesy of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office via AP
The Washington Post first reported news on the settlement amount.
The Justice Department in April 2021 announced it had cleared U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd of any criminal wrongdoing in the shooting, after an investigation revealed no evidence he “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.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
