Police Documents Reveal New Questions Into Death of Ashli Babbitt

Conservative government watchdog Judicial Watch has obtained more than 500 pages of internal documents from the DC Metropolitan Police. They describe the death of U.S. Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt in great detail.

According to the department's reporting, the officer who shot Babbitt was very “upset” after shooting the unarmed woman.

Per Fox News:

“These previously secret records show there was no good reason to shoot and kill Ashli Babbitt,” stated Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, which obtained the documents through a May 2021 FOIA lawsuit. “The Biden-Garland Justice Department and the Pelosi Congress have much to answer for the over the mishandling and cover-up of this scandalous killing of an American citizen by the U.S. Capitol Police.”

Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, was shot and killed during the storming of the Capitol by a bullet fired by Capitol Police officer ​​Lt. Michael Byrd. The documents from the DC Metropolitan Police department show that witnesses did not see Babbitt holding a weapon prior to her being shot, and reveal conflicting accounts of whether Byrd verbally warned Babbitt before shooting her.

Although Babbitt's death came from her encounter with U.S. Capitol Police, the new, more detailed information about her demise comes from a DC Metro Police report.

A Capitol Police sergeant, whose name is redacted, described seeing Babbitt climbing through a broken window, but did not witness her holding a weapon, according to a portion of the documents received by Judicial Watch. 

“Sergeant [redacted] observed a white, female protester was climbing through an opened area where the glass pane had been knocked out. He heard a gunshot and this female fell backwards through the opening. The crowd on the other side of the barricaded east doors, began to step back and some put their hands in the air. Sergeant [redacted] observed Lieutenant Byrd step back just after hearing the gunshot. He did not see anything in the female protester's hands prior to the gunshot,” the Internal Affairs Division report stated. 

Video footage from that day shows Babbitt at the front of a large group of rioters storming the Capitol. While some chant “F the blue!,” the surging crowd attempts to get through to the “Speaker's Lobby,” where members of Congress and their staff wait. Finally, Babbitt attempts to climb through a shattered glass window.