Trump administration to pay $5 million to family of Jan. 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt

The Trump administration will pay nearly $5 million to the family of Ashli Babbitt, the Trump supporter who was shot and killed while in the mob breaching the House Speaker’s Lobby on Jan. 6, 2021.    

Outgoing U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger confirmed to CBS News he was informed that the Justice Department has agreed to make the payment to Babbitt’s family to settle its wrongful death claim.

Manger told CBS News he learned of the settlement amount “a few weeks ago” and the same day sent a message to the entire force expressing his dismay.

“I told them I was extremely disappointed, and I disagreed with the Department of Justice’s decision to settle this lawsuit,” he said in a phone call on Monday.

Capitol Police Officer Dan Hodges said in a statement that Babbitt was “a conspiracy theorist armed with a lethal weapon and combat training, breaking into a secure area of the Capitol who did not heed orders to cease from law enforcement.” He accused President Trump of wanting “to pay the insurrectionists so that he’ll have them on retainer for the next time he wants to influence the course of history with mass violence.”

My thoughts are with the families and widows of Brian Sicknick, Howie Liebengood, Jeff Smith, and all law enforcement who have suffered for defending Democracy that day.

The parties had reached a settlement in principle in early May in the $30 million civil suit filed by the conservative activist group Judicial Watch on behalf of Babbitt’s estate, including her late husband.

Babbitt’s death was a rallying point for Trump loyalists and Capitol rioters who alleged police used unnecessary force in stopping the mob on Jan. 6. In the civil lawsuit, Babbitt’s estate alleged U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd was negligent in the issue of force and his firearm. The suit also argued Byrd was not in uniform and was wearing a COVID mask when he opened fire against Babbitt. The suit accused Byrd of failing to “de-escalate.”

“Ashli was unarmed,” the lawsuit said. “Her hands were up in the air, empty, and in plain view of Lt. Byrd and other officers in the lobby. Ashli posed no threat to the safety of anyone.”

The case was initially filed in California and then transferred to the Washington, D.C., federal court in 2024 and was defended by the Justice Department under the Biden administration.  

Footage from Jan. 6 showed Babbitt trying to climb through a smashed window as the mob sought to breach the House Speaker’s Lobby, where the counting of the electoral votes had been interrupted. Members of Congress were evacuating the area during the riot.

In August 2021 internal review, the U.S. Capitol Police said Byrd saved lives and did not engage in misconduct. 

Babbitt’s mother, Micki Wittehoff helped lead nightly protests outside the Washington, D.C., jail for more than two years, in defense of U.S. Capitol riot defendants and convicted felons. Her advocacy helped secure meetings with then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, references to Babbitt by President Trump and a selfie photo with Kash Patel, who later was confirmed as the director of the FBI.

Mr. Trump, on the day he was inaugurated, issued a blanket pardon for more than 1,500 Capitol riot defendants. The Justice Department has fired prosecutors who handled the Jan. 6 cases.