The family of Ashli Babbitt, the insurrectionist killed at the capitol riots back in January, is to sue Capitol Police for $10 million in a wrongful death suit.
News of this comes two weeks after the Justice Department decided they would not file criminal charges against the officer who shot and killed Babbitt during the January 6th insurrection. They stated that there was insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution.
“Specifically, the investigation revealed no evidence to establish that, at the time the officer fired a single shot at Ms. Babbitt, the officer did not reasonably believe that it was necessary to do so in self-defense or in defense of the Members of Congress and others evacuating the House Chamber,” the Justice Department said.
Terrell Roberts III, the attorney representing Ashli’s family, told CNBC and Newsweek on Thursday that the family was planning on suing the department for $10 million. He declined to say when, or in what court, the family would sue, but said that he would notify the proper authorities “within 10 days” of how Ashli’s family wants to pursue the case.
Roberts argues that Babbitt did not present any immediate danger to the officer who killed her, despite the Justice Department’s ruling . “The actual evidence is this: The officer show an unarmed woman who was not an immediate threat to him or any Member of Congress. That is inconsistent with any claim of self-defense or the defense of others, period.”
Roberts also said that the $10 million the family is asking for is the sum of the estimated financial loss, including the value of Babbitt’s “services to her husband and combined with Ashli’s potential income if she would have lived.”
