Ashli Babbitt’s Family to Receive Nearly $5 Million Following Capitol Riot Settlement

The U.S. government will compensate the Ashli Babbitt family, the slain female victim who was killed after being shot on January 6, 2021, for her role in the Capitol riot, close to $5 million in a wrongful death settlement, outgoing U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger has said. The action has been universally criticized and has been attacked by politicians and commentators.

Pro-Trump extremist Ashli Babbitt, 35, an Air Force veteran, was killed by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd when he attempted to force his way through a shattered window at the Speaker’s Lobby while storming the Capitol. Congress members were evacuating the room while the Capitol was being stormed. Byrd fired one round that struck Babbitt in the shoulder and killed him. The U.S. Capitol Police subsequently cleared Byard of criminal activity and said his reaction probably saved lives and was in compliance with departmental policy during emergencies. Babbitt’s estate, progressing through far-right group Judicial Watch, again sued Byard for $30 million in a civil suit for allegedly acting negligently and employing excessive force.

The lawsuit claimed that Babbitt was unarmed, had her hands raised, and did not represent any threat before being shot. It claimed that Byrd was not in uniform and did not de-escalate as per policy before shooting. The family claimed Babbitt could have been saved and filed their case to court seeking justice. The settlement, short of the requested $30 million, was reached in May 2025 after months of litigation. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger was reportedly displeased with the Justice Department settlement ruling, calling it an injustice to the work of law enforcement officers who had driven off the attackers on the day. “I was very disappointed,” Manger told CBS News. “I think the Department of Justice had to bring the case to trial and not settle.” Several other police officials also condemned the settlement in plain language.

Metropolitan Police Department Officer Dan Hodges described Babbitt as a “conspiracy theory” war veteran who had defied police instructions and entered an area that was barricaded.

He accused Trump of politicizing the settlement by employing it to keep rioters in check for future possible demonstrations. Hodges also addressed law enforcement sacrifice overall, to wit, the trauma and loss of life that law enforcement suffered in trying to protect democracy on January 6. He spoke as a voice for officers such as Brian Sicknick, Howie Liebengood, and Jeff Smith who died during or as a consequence of the assault. The incident was a polarizing photo for several years in the context of the Capitol insurrection. To Trump supporters and Babbitt’s loved ones, she was a coordinated murder by extremist police brutality against a patriotic protester. To some, the majority of law enforcement, Babbitt was a member of an incendiary mob who presented an immediate danger to the country’s safety and democracy. The initial lawsuit filed in California was shifted to the U.S. District Court of Washington, D.C. in 2024. It was filed during President Trump’s tenure but was ultimately resolved by the Biden administration’s Justice Department who resolved the case out of court.

Video at the Capitol building on January 6 shows Babbitt attempting to crawl through the barricaded, smashed window just a few feet from where members of congress were fleeing. It was tense and chaotic, with officers trying to limit the breach from expanding further. Having no other choice, Byrd barricaded the door with his gun.

Even in her own death and subsequent official inquiry that ensued, Babbitt’s name remained a rallying cry for some of the right-wing extremist groups.

Her mother, Micki Wittehoff, was also a zealous defender of Capitol riot defendants and conducted nightly protests in front of Washington, D.C.’s jail for more than two years.

Her activism has had Republican officials knocking at her door, including sitting down with then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and taking a photo with Trump ally Kash Patel. Babbitt’s face has been invoked repeatedly by former President Trump, who turned her into a martyr and referenced her death as one way of trying to get the base stirred up. In another move widely criticized, Trump issued a blanket pardon to over 1,500 participants in the Capitol riot on the second anniversary of his inauguration, widely criticized by the majority of legal professionals and law enforcement agencies. Evidence suggested that some Justice Department prosecutors who prosecuted the Capitol riot case were dismissed since then, fueling further political fires after January 6. This settlement brings the legal chapter on Ashli Babbit’s assassination to a close, but the battle over her legacy, the day of January 6, and what it portends in the larger scheme for American democracy is fire-breathing. The near $5 million settlement will be disbursed to Babbit’s estate, which now includes her recently deceased husband, but political and emotional scars the day inflicted are anything but healed.