A news report has said that the Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Ashlu Babbitt outside a door of the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot has been formally exonerated after an internal investigation.
The Justice Department announced in April that the officer won’t be facing charges for the incident. The exoneration by the Capitol Police along with the memo from the commander of the Capitol Police’s Office of Personal Responsibility wrapped up the last remaining investigation into the incident.
According to a department memo obtained by NBC News, “no further action will be taken in this matter” after the officer was exonerated for use of force. It said that the Justice Department did not find any evidence that the officer “violated any federal laws and that there was nothing to contradict that he believed it was necessary to shoot at Babbitt “in self-defense or in defense of the Members of Congress and others evacuating the House Chamber.”
The same statement from the Justice Department said that despite further investigations and taking into consideration the “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, officials determined that there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution.”
According to reports, 35-year-old Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, and a decorated security forces controller who served multiple Middle East tours from 2004 to 2016, was shot dead along with five others, while trying to forcefully enter the Capitol.
The officer, according to reports, opened fire as the mob, along with Babbitt, forcefully try to get through the door while members of Congress were being evacuated on the House side of the building.
Babbitt has been openly posting about her ideals as one of Trump’s supporters through the years. She has been following and promoting many well-known radical conservative activists as well as leaders of the QAnon conspiracy theory movement. Her death has been blown out of proportion after claims that it was an unjust killing from someone on the far right.
It also became even more controversial as calls for the shooter’s name to be publicized came following Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., claimed that Babbitt’s death was “an execution,” and the officer who shot her was “lying in wait” to do so.
Trump also previously claimed that the officer who shot Babbitt was the “head of security” for a “high-ranking” Democratic member of Congress.
