The suit, filed in federal court in San Diego, accuses Mr. Byrd of multiple counts of negligence that resulted in Ms. Babbitt’s death by a gunshot wound to her left anterior shoulder.
Judicial Watch filed the action against the federal government on behalf of Ms. Babbitt’s husband, Aaron Babbitt, and her personal estate.
Ms. Babbitt was shot outside the east entrance to the U.S. House Speaker’s Lobby at 2:44 p.m. on Jan. 6 as she climbed into a broken door window. She was pronounced dead half an hour later at a Washington D.C. hospital.
“Ashli experienced extreme pain, suffering, mental anguish, and intense fear before slipping into pre-terminal unconsciousness,” the lawsuit states.
“The fact that Ashli was alive and conscious in extreme pain and suffering is documented in videos of the shooting,” the suit states.
“Furthermore, nothing about the wound track described in the autopsy report would be expected to result in immediate death or instantaneous loss of consciousness, and Ashli’s lungs contained blood, further confirming that she was alive and breathing after being shot.”
The suit alleges that Mr. Byrd, now a USCP captain, was negligent in the use of his firearm and in his faulty assessment that Ms. Babbitt posed an imminent threat to his life.
“Ashli was unarmed. Her hands were up in the air, empty, and in plain view of Lt. Byrd and other officers in the lobby,” the lawsuit states. “Ashli posed no threat to the safety of anyone.”
Hidden From View
Ms. Babbitt was unaware of Mr. Byrd’s presence, given his hidden position along the wall inside the Speaker’s Lobby, the suit said.“Lt. Byrd, who was not in uniform, did not identify himself as a police officer or otherwise make his presence known to Ashli,” the document said. “Lt. Byrd did not give Ashli any warnings or commands before shooting her dead.”
As the incident commander for the U.S. House on Jan. 6, Mr. Byrd is held to a higher standard than other officers inside the Speaker’s Lobby, the suit states.
“...He breached multiple, applicable standards of care governing (A) the safe use of a firearm; (B) the perception and assessment of imminent threats; (C) use of force levels and escalation/de-escalation of force; (D) the perception and assessment of relevant facts; (E) the use of warnings; (F) firing backdrops; and (G) obtaining timely, appropriate medical aid, among other breaches to be identified through discovery,” the lawsuit said.
“Had Lt. Byrd adhered to these standards, he would not have fired, and Ashli would be alive today.”
Mr. Byrd had a duty “to refrain from using or handling his firearm in a careless or imprudent manner,” the suit said.
Mr. Byrd should have kept his weapon holstered “until the moment when a reasonably prudent police officer would believe and therefore prepare for its expected, prudent, and lawful discharge,” the document said.
He should have kept his finger “safely off the trigger” of his Glock service weapon “until the moment when a reasonably prudent police officer would believe that firing is imminent,” the suit said.
Mr. Byrd also failed to “maintain his unholstered weapon at ‘low ready’” and instead pointed the gun “at no fewer than three people on the other side of the lobby doors and in the direction of Ashli and as many as seven uniformed officers positioned near her in the hallway,” the complaint said.
“Instead of diligently assessing the appropriateness of using deadly force against Ashli as an individual at the moment he shot and killed her at 2:44 p.m., Lt. Byrd negligently, if not recklessly, assessed all persons inside the Capitol as an ‘imminent danger’ to House members,” the suit states.
Mr. Byrd failed to run through the five levels of force before resorting to the lethal discharge of his gun, the suit said.
“Lt. Byrd breached this standard of care by entering the demonstration at Level 5, the highest level of force, unholstering his firearm, and pointing it at Ashli and others through the windows of the east lobby doors,” the lawsuit said.
He also erred by failing to properly assess the actual threat posed by protesters who entered the Capitol, the suit alleges.
“Instead of diligently assessing the appropriateness of using deadly force against Ashli as an individual at the moment he shot and killed her at 2:44 p.m., Lt. Byrd negligently, if not recklessly, assessed all persons inside the Capitol as an ‘imminent danger’ to House members,” the suit stated.
Mr. Byrd should have attempted “less than lethal means” to subdue Ms. Babbitt, “a factor that is especially significant given that at least four other armed officers were in the lobby with Lt. Byrd to assist him in apprehending (i.e., stopping, detaining, and/or arresting) Ashli if necessary and at least seven other armed officers were either in the hallway with Ashli or on the stairs leading to the hallway,” the suit said.
Mr. Byrd also erred in his belief that he was “trapped,” the lawsuit said.
“Lt. Byrd erroneously believed he was ‘trapped’ because he and others had barricaded the lobby doors at both ends of the lobby. In fact, only the doors on the east end of the lobby had been barricaded. The doors on the west end, which were used to evacuate House members from the chamber, had not been barricaded and remained open at the time of the shooting.”
