() The family of Jan. 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt will receive a $5 million settlement from the Trump administration, a report said.
Babbitt, a Trump supporter, was shot and killed while in the mob breaching the House Speaker’s Lobby.
The settlement resolves a $30 million suit, reached in May, brought by Babbitt’s estate and the conservative group Judicial Watch. The case from Babbitt’s family was initially filed in California and then transferred to federal court in 2024 and was defended by the Justice Department under the Joe Biden administration.
Footage from Jan. 6 showed Babbitt trying to climb through a smashed window of the lobby where the counting of the electoral votes had been interrupted. Babbitt tried to enter that way as Congress was evacuating the area during the riot.
Babbitt’s estate, in a civil lawsuit, accused U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd of being negligent in the use of force and his firearm. They also argued that Byrd was not in uniform and was wearing a COVID-19 mask when he opened fire at Babbitt.
In April 2021, the Justice Department announced it had cleared Byrd of any criminal wrongdoing in the shooting.
On the day he was inaugurated, Trump issued a blanket pardon for more than 1,500 Capitol riot defendants.
