Officer who shot Capitol Rioters Ashli ​​Babbitt should not be charged, investigators advise

The officer who shot her had been placed on leave shortly after the riot while Ms. Babbitt’s death was under investigation, including as to whether it was a violation of her civil rights.

The Justice Department said in announcing the investigation that it followed a routine procedure to investigate the shooting every time a police officer used lethal force by the Washington Metropolitan Police Department. Police investigators have made an initial decision that charges against the officer are not warranted, the people said, adding that Justice Department officials have not yet made a final decision on the matter. The US attorney’s office in Washington is leading the broader investigation into the riot and is pursuing more than 150 cases to date.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department did not immediately comment. Any final decision on a charge would likely need to be approved by the leadership of the senior Justice Department, which has not yet been briefed on the matter.

In reviewing such cases, federal prosecutors must determine not only that an officer has used excessive force, but also that the officer has deliberately violated someone’s constitutional rights. That high bar makes it difficult to file federal charges against an officer, and legal experts had predicted that such a case in connection with Ms. Babbitt’s death was unlikely.

A Capitol Police spokeswoman declined to comment on what she called “an ongoing investigation.” A Metropolitan Police spokesman said, “It would be premature to comment at this point.”

The death of Mrs. Babbitt, a 35-year-old resident of San Diego, came when a mob of rioters gathered at the doorway to the Speaker’s Lobby in the Capitol, banging on the glass and urging the agents to step aside on the spot, according to multiple videos. of the incident.

The crowd smashed the glass with a helmet and stick, video footage shows. Seconds later, Mrs. Babbitt, who was unarmed, tried to jump through the shattered glass and was shot from the doorway by a Capitol Police officer, according to footage.

Multiple videos of the shooting on social media showed Ms. Babbitt, who appears to be wearing a Trump flag as a cape, fell out of a smashed window after being shot by an officer on the other side of a series of double doors.

The officer, a lieutenant, essentially served as a possible last line of defense between the rioters and members of Congress, somewhat justifying his actions and falling far short of the standard needed to charge a police officer with a violation of the Civil rights. for a shooting, the people said.

“There he drew the line in the sand,” said a fellow Capitol police officer, adding that the lieutenant, whose police powers have been suspended, is expected to return to his previous status, although he fears retaliation by Trump . supporters.

Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R., Okla.), Who witnessed the shooting, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last month that he saw a Capitol Police lieutenant in a defensive position in front of the House lobby doors.

The GOP congressman said he was alarmed that lawmakers and press were still trapped on the third-floor balcony in the room, facing the floor.

“I think they wanted to hurt us,” he said of the crowd pounding on the door. “My thought was, ‘How are we going to do this?’ ”

Then, Mr. Mullin said, there was a shot.

“Of course everyone got really excited again,” he said, “but I’ll tell you, from my perspective, the lieutenant who did that, I really feel like he saved some people’s lives that day.”

The officer came to him desperate afterwards, Mr. Mullin said. He said he hugged the officer and said, “Listen, you did what you had to do.”

In the videos, multiple police officers appear to be providing first aid to Ms. Babbitt, who was taken to a hospital and later died of her injuries.

The recommendation not to charge the officer who shot Mrs. Babbitt is likely to spark controversy. Some far-right activists have used her death as a rallying cry, calling her a martyr for their cause, with her image on protest flags and a Telegram account linked to the far-right group The Proud Boys calling her a ‘victim’. of system aggression. “

The Justice Department has declined to charge officers in a number of other high-profile cases that developed under different circumstances. It decided not to file federal civil rights charges against former police officer Ferguson, Mo. who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager in 2014, saying prosecutors could not refute the allegations made by the officer he fired because he feared for his safety. This sparked widespread protests and sparked a nationwide conversation about the use of force by the police.

In social media profiles in her name, Ms. Babbitt is described as a veteran and libertarian who loved her husband, her big black and white dog “and especially my country.” Ms. Babbitt’s military service included several deployments to Iraq during the war.

The day before the riot, Ms. Babbitt tweeted, “Nothing will stop us … they can try and try, but the storm is here and it’s going down on DC in less than 24 hours … dark to light!”

A man who identified himself as Mrs. Babbitt’s brother, who could be reached by phone, said he couldn’t immediately comment.

—Lindsay Wise contributed to this article.

Write to Aruna Viswanatha at [email protected], Sadie Gurman at [email protected] and Tawnell D. Hobbs at [email protected]