Capitol Breach Investigators Suggest Ashli Babbitt’s Shooter Will Not Be Charged

Investigators have come to a preliminary decision that the police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbit during the January 6th Capitol breach should not be charged with any crimes in relation to her death, according to those involved with the review.

Ms Babbitt, a thirty-five-year-old who served in the Air force and Air National Guard for over a decade, died in the hospital after being shot in the neck. Although her reasons for storming the Capitol were not clear, her Twitter account had made references to election fraud and the alleged QAnon conspiracy. Her final tweet before she was killed stated:

"Nothing will stop us ... they can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours ... dark to light!”

In the footage from the shooting, intruders can be seen smashing windows to the Speaker’s Lobby, trying to get through a door and past police to where the members of Congress were hiding. Once a window is broken, Ms Babbitt can be seen trying to enter the lobby through the broken window - she was shot in the neck while climbing through the frame.

The officer who shot her, it has been argued, was serving as the last line of defence between the crowd and the politicians. Given the circumstances of the shooting, there may well be legal justifications for his actions which will allow him to avoid any criminal charges. 

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the officer was placed on administrative leave and his police powers suspended until the investigation is complete. The currently pending outcome of the investigation is determined by a collaboration between the Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police departments.

The Justice Department stated that placing the officer on administrative leave was in line with routine procedure when deadly force is used and the Washington Metropolitan Police Department is examining the case. The civil rights division of the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has also launched a probe to establish if excessive force was used.

Although the final conclusion has not been made, any decision to prosecute would have to be approved by senior Justice Department leadership, who are yet to be briefed on the matter. When assessing such cases, a federal prosecutor must establish that the officer both used excessive force and willfully violated someone’s constitutional rights. Legal experts suggest that this is a high bar and any such ruling would be unlikely.