Last Updated on April 14, 2021
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that they will not pursue charges against the Capitol Police officer who gunned down unarmed election integrity protester Ashli Babbitt on January 6.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia’s Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section and the Civil Rights Division, with the Metropolitan Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division (IAD), conducted a thorough investigation of Ms. Babbitt’s shooting,” a press release announced. “Officials examined video footage posted on social media, statements from the officer involved and other officers and witnesses to the events, physical evidence from the scene of the shooting, and the results of an autopsy.”
“Based on that investigation, officials determined that there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution. Officials from IAD informed a representative of Ms. Babbitt’s family today of this determination,” the statement added.
The Department of Justice, the IAD, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office also refused to disclose the name of the officer who killed Babbitt, in contrast to cases where officers involved in shootings of black suspects almost always have their names and personal information released publicly.
The news comes after the Washington D.C. medical examiner ruled that Babbitt’s cause of death was a homicide:
Washington, D.C. medical examiner Dr. Francisco J. Diaz ruled Wednesday that the death of unarmed Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was gunned down by Capitol police on January 6, has been classified as a “homicide” caused by a “gunshot wound to the left anterior shoulder.”
“On Wednesday, January 6, 2021 an unprecedented incident of civil insurrection at the United States Capitol resulted in the deaths of five individuals,” a statement from Diaz’s office stated. “The District of Columbia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Francisco J. Diaz, MD, FACP, has issued the following determinations as to the cause and manner of death for four of those individuals.”
