The Justice Department has agreed in principle to pay $5 million to the family of Ashli Babbitt, a former Air Force veteran who was shot dead during the Capitol Riot on Jan. 6, 2021, Fox News has learned.
Babbitt’s estate, through her husband Aaron, filed a $30 million lawsuit last year over her fatal shooting when she attempted to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby inside the Capitol.
Attorneys for both the Justice Department and Babbitt’s estate said during a court hearing on Friday that they had reached an agreement in principle to resolve the case, according to reports.
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Babbitt was one of hundreds of President Donald Trump’s supporters who entered or attempted to breach the U.S. Capitol during the riot after Congress voted to certify President Joe Biden’s election win.
Video clips posted online depict Babbitt, wearing a stars and stripes backpack and a Trump flag draped around her neck, stepping up and beginning to go through the waist-high opening of an area of the Capitol known as the Speaker’s Lobby when a gunshot is heard. She could be seen falling backward.
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Another video showed other unidentified people attempting to lift Babbitt up. She could be seen slumping back to the ground.
Babbitt was rushed to Washington Hospital Center, but could not be saved.
The Capitol Police officer who shot her was cleared of wrongdoing by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, which concluded that he acted in self-defense and in defense of members of Congress. The Capitol Police also cleared the officer.
United States Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger sent a message to his department’s officers earlier this month after hearing of the proposed settlement, writing that he was “extremely disappointed.”
“In 2021, the DOJ said that there was no evidence to show that law enforcement broke the law. After a thorough investigation, it was determined to be a justified shooting,” Manger wrote, according to the Washington Post. “This settlement sends a chilling message to law enforcement officers across our nation — especially those who have a protective mission like ours.”
Fox News’ David Spunt, Danielle Wallace, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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