Rioters try to break through a police barrier at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
John Minchillo/AP
John Minchillo/AP
The officer who shot and killed rioter Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection acted within department policy, the U.S. Capitol Police announced on Monday.
“After interviewing multiple witnesses and reviewing all the available evidence, including video and radio calls, the United States Capitol Police has completed the internal investigation into the fatal shooting of Ms. Ashli Babbitt, which occurred in the Speaker’s Lobby on January 6,” the department said in a statement.
“USCP’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) determined the officer’s conduct was lawful and within Department policy, which says an officer may use deadly force only when the officer reasonably believes that action is in the defense of human life, including the officer’s own life, or in the defense of any person in immediate danger of serious physical injury.”
The officer, who is not being named to protect their safety, will not face disciplinary action from the department.
The USCP decision comes after the Justice Department in April said it would not pursue charges against the officer who fatally shot Babbitt as she attempted to breach a barricaded, shattered glass door leading to the House chamber.
Since Babbitt’s death, the far right has painted the rioter as a martyr who was felled by a system intent on villainizing Trump supporters.
