WASHINGTON – A preliminary investigation did not find enough evidence to criminally accuse the U.S. Capitol Police lieutenant who killed Ashli Babbitt, a pro-Trump rebel who invaded the Capitol last month, according to officers familiar with the investigation.
But officials warned on Monday that the investigation by the city’s police, the Metropolitan Police Department, has not been completed and that no recommendation has been made to the prosecutor in Washington, who would sue the police.
Mrs. Babbitt, 35, participated in one of a handful of mob attacks that almost hit members of Congress during the hour-long siege of the Capitol on January 6. She and other protesters knocked on the doors that separated them from the Chamber of Deputies as legislators evacuated.
While Mrs. Babbitt tried to jump over a barrier and enter the speaker’s lobby through a broken window, the Capitol Police lieutenant shot her and killed her. Although the authorities did not provide a full account of Babbitt’s fatal encounter, it was filmed and widely shared on social media.
But the images, combined with witness accounts, appear to show that the lieutenant, who was not identified, was left alone to face a crowd. The lieutenant is on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation into the shooting and was interviewed by investigators last week.
Preliminary findings were previously reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Dustin Sternbeck, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Department, said it “would be premature” for the department “to make any comment that any conclusion has been reached”. The Justice Department and the Capitol Police said their agencies did not comment on active investigations.
Civil rights prosecutors in the United States attorney’s office opened a formal excessive-force federal investigation into Babbitt’s death in the days after the Capitol rebellion, a “standard routine procedure whenever a police officer uses lethal force,” said a door from the Justice Department when the investigation was announced.
Lethal force is considered legally justified if an officer has an “objectively reasonable” fear of causing serious harm to himself or others. Two people familiar with the lieutenant’s report suggested that he would argue that he acted to protect lawmakers from harm. Five people died during the attack on the Capitol and shortly thereafter.
In death, Ms. Babbitt became a martyr figure for extreme right-wing extremist groups that have long supported former President Donald J. Trump, many of whom went to the Capitol to prevent the official certification of the victory of the Electoral College of the President Biden, including white nationalists and militia members. It could continue to serve as a rallying cry for Trump supporters if the official was not charged.
Mrs. Babbitt, who served in the Air Force and the National Air Guard for more than a dozen years, was seen on video moments before her death wearing a Trump flag as a cover.
His social media accounts were full of messages of support for Mr. Trump, as well as QAnon conspiracy theories.
“Nothing is going to stop us,” she said on Twitter the day before she and Trump supporters attacked Congress. “They can try and try and try, but the storm is here and is falling on DC in less than 24 hours…. dark to light! “
Adam Goldman contributed reports.