Family of Ashli Babbitt, veteran killed on Jan 6th, gets $5 million from Trump’s DOJ

President Donald Trump’s administration will reportedly pay the family of Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, reversing an earlier Department of Justice (DOJ) decision to fight the case.

Babbitt was shot and killed by U.S. Capitol Police Officer Michael Byrd during the January 6 riot at the Capitol. Byrd shot Babbitt through the neck in a killing that critics argue was unnecessary and cold-blooded. The family of the deceased originally sued the DOJ for $30 million, but the Trump administration will fork over $5 million.

At the time of the shooting, Byrd was investigated and cleared of any wrongdoing. A statement released at the time defended him from what the DOJ referred to as a “mob.”

“USCP officers used furniture to barricade a set of glass doors separating the hallway and Speaker’s Lobby to try and stop the mob from entering the Speaker’s Lobby and the Chamber, and three officers positioned themselves between the doors and the mob,” the statement read.

“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. Eventually, the three USCP officers positioned outside the doors were forced to evacuate. 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,” it continued.

But the DOJ, now headed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, has since changed its position.

“Two sources told the Post the government had agreed to pay $5 million in taxpayer funds to the family, with a third going to attorney’s fees to conservative group Judicial Watch and lawyer Richard Driscoll,” the Daily Mail reported. “A Judicial Watch source couldn’t confirm or deny a settlement number and said the group was not getting a contingency fee.”

Trump has previously spoken highly of Babbitt, calling himself a “big fan” of the veteran.

“I’m a big fan of Ashli Babbitt, OK, and Ashli Babbitt was a really good person who was a big MAGA fan, Trump fan, and she was innocently standing there — they even say trying to sort of hold back the crowd, he said to Newsmax. “And a man did something unthinkable to her when he shot her, and I think it’s a disgrace. I’m going to look into that.”

Writer/Columnist

Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to BizPac Review.

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