A new video by Judicial Watch Inc. on the Jan. 6 shooting of Ashli Babbitt compiles and synchronizes much of the video evidence showing the final 19 minutes of the Air Force veteran’s life.
More than three months into the second administration of President Donald J. Trump, the body of evidence in the killing of Babbitt has ballooned, based in part on Judicial Watch’s $30 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the U.S. government on behalf of Babbitt’s husband and her estate.
Still, the list of unanswered questions in the case continues to grow.
‘I can’t imagine President Trump is going to want anything other than to resolve this litigation.’
Babbitt, 35, a U.S. Air Force veteran and former military police officer, walked into the U.S. Capitol after watching President Trump’s speech at the Ellipse. She ended up in a hallway outside the Speaker’s Lobby, where rioting broke out. At the apex of the violence, Babbitt punched the main vandal in the face and climbed through a broken side window, where she was immediately shot by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd.
A cloud hangs over the U.S. Department of Justice’s 2021 decision not to charge Byrd in the fatal shooting, as new questions swirl about Byrd’s long disciplinary history. The District of Columbia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide. She was one of four Trump supporters to die at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The Judicial Watch video uses footage from at least a dozen sources, about half of whom were witnesses who shot cellphone video. The rest came from Capitol Police CCTV cameras, Blaze News’ Steve Baker, and at least one unnamed FBI informant or “confidential human source.”
“That was pretty awful, huh?” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said at the end of the new video. “It was disturbing. Ashli Babbitt shouldn’t have been killed. You can see frankly they could have moved her a little more quickly than they did. It’s going to be resolved in our lawsuit. The lawsuit is ongoing.”
“We are seeking to — and both parties are operating in good faith — to partially or completely resolve the litigation. So I’m quite hopeful that that does happen. I can’t imagine President Trump is going to want anything other than to resolve this litigation.”
One of the most striking things in the video is how Byrd crept out of a hidden position inside the Speaker’s Lobby in order to take the shot. Two protesters filming in one corner of the hallway spotted Byrd’s Glock 22 service weapon through the glass side window. They shouted, “He’s got a gun!” but their cries were not heard by Babbitt, feet away, as she jumped up into a broken window — only to be shot.
Although Babbitt had barely begun to emerge from the other side of the window entry, Byrd opened fire, striking Babbitt in the left anterior shoulder. In a 2021 interview with NBC News anchor Lester Holt, Byrd said he could not tell if the person in the window frame was male or female or if the person had a weapon, but he still believed his life was in danger when he fired his sidearm. Byrd said he believes his actions saved lives that day.
Flawed DOJ shooting report
Among the biggest issues in the Babbitt case, the U.S. Department of Justice’s use-of-force report has long drawn criticism from Judicial Watch and a prominent use-of-force expert consulted by Blaze News.
Released by Judicial Watch in June 2022 as part of a lawsuit against the DOJ, the report said there was “insufficient evidence” to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Byrd “willfully” used more force than necessary. The report said the DOJ conducted a “thorough review of the facts and circumstances in this case,” yet the document has close to a dozen major factual errors.
The report also did not rely on what use-of-force experts call the “gold standard” for judging police use of deadly force.
‘She was behind the bad actors the whole time.’
“In order for lethal force to be authorized, the officer has to be able to articulate that he or she was in fear of losing his life, was about to be killed or grievously injured,” said Stan Kephart, an Arizona-based policing expert who analyzed the shooting for “The Real Story of Jan. 6,” a 2022 documentary by the Epoch Times. “There is nothing I saw in that [Speaker’s Lobby] film that would indicate that was possible or probable from what unfolded.”
Kephart said the shooting should have been evaluated using a litmus test from the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court case Graham v. Connor to determine whether force was ever needed and appropriate in the situation, the extent of the injury, and “whether the force was applied in a good-faith manner to maintain and restore discipline, or maliciously and sadistically.”
Kephart told Blaze News that a new investigation of Byrd’s use of force should be a high priority for the Trump DOJ.
Use-of-force expert Stan Kephart said Lt. Michael Byrd should have used a two-handed “Weaver stance” when approaching the Speaker’s Lobby doors with his weapon drawn. Instead, Byrd is seen on video “pushing the shot with his right hand forward.”Jayden X
It was “a total miscarriage of justice” to use the wrong legal framework for judging whether Byrd used excessive force in the shooting, Kephart said. The term “willfully” is not part of the standard. Because that legal analysis underpins the conclusions in the DOJ report, Kephart said, “It’s the first thing that should be re-examined.”
Aaron Babbitt, Ashli’s widower, has criticized the DOJ report for bias and errors, including the assertion that his wife was “an active participant in a ‘mob’ that had just illegally entered the Capitol building and then broke out the glass doors and removed barricades to forcefully gain entry into the Speaker’s Lobby.”
Video showed that Babbitt tried to stop the rioting that broke out in the hallway, shouting at three Capitol Police officers, “Call f**king help!” She put a stop to the violence when she grabbed rioter Zachary Alam and punched him in the nose.
An officer of the House Sergeant at Arms wrongfully claimed in the report that Babbitt took part in breaking the glass at the Speaker’s Lobby entrance.
“There’s zero evidence from three different angles that Ashli broke any glass,” Aaron Babbitt said in 2022. “She was behind the bad actors the whole time.”
In addition to apparent factual errors in the DOJ report, there are also issues of crime-scene contamination that complicate the case.
Capitol Police SWAT Officer Michael Brown broke out glass and climbed through the window into the Speaker’s Lobby after the shooting, video shows. Crime scene photos clearly indicate that the makeshift barrier of furniture piled up inside the entrance was altered after the shooting, with more furniture stacked on it to make the barricade higher than it was when Byrd fired his shot.
Blaze News reached out to the new U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Edward R. Martin Jr., but did not receive a reply by publication time. The FBI and U.S. Capitol Police have repeatedly declined to comment on Byrd.
Focus on Byrd’s history
Byrd’s history across three decades of Capitol Police work came under congressional scrutiny in late 2024 in a report from U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) to Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger. Records uncovered by the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight said in 2004, Byrd was accused of firing his service weapon into a fleeing vehicle in his Maryland neighborhood, with his neighbor in the line of fire.
“The Subcommittee is aware that the USCP recently promoted Michael Byrd from lieutenant to captain,” Loudermilk wrote. “I have concerns about this decision given Byrd’s lengthy disciplinary history and the apparent political influence of internal operational decisions related to Byrd following January 6, 2021.”
U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd appears to have his finger on the trigger of his service weapon while walking on the U.S. House floor as rioters broke windows at the House entrance on Jan. 6, 2021. Those in the line of fire of Byrd’s handgun included U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), wearing the blue shirt.
Photo by Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Graphic overlay by Blaze News
Loudermilk said Byrd has received favorable treatment compared to other Capitol Police officers who worked on Jan. 6. He was awarded an unrestricted $36,000 retention bonus in August 2021. At around the same time, other officers — including those injured on Jan. 6 — were given $3,000 retention bonuses. In June 2022, officers were offered an $8,000 retention bonus. The Loudermilk letter said it was not clear whether Byrd also received the two other bonuses.
Byrd was also given $21,000 in security upgrades at his Maryland home. House Democrats worked with Capitol Police general counsel Tad DiBiase to find ways to help Byrd financially in the months after he shot and killed Babbitt, Loudermilk wrote. Capitol Police helped to establish a GoFundMe campaign that raised more than $164,000 for Byrd.
Congressional investigators uncovered a 2001 incident in which Byrd was accused of abandoning his post in the Speaker’s Office for a card game in a nearby cloakroom, then lying about it to Internal Affairs Division investigators.
Capitol Police instructed Byrd not to sit for a fitness-for-duty evaluation following Jan. 6, “concerned that Byrd may fail” and if he did, “he would not be permitted to carry his service weapon,” the Loudermilk letter said.
Shortly after shooting Babbitt at 2:44 p.m. on Jan. 6, Byrd made a false broadcast on Capitol Police radio claiming that he was taking gunfire and was preparing to return fire. The false assertion was never corrected on the air, leaving SWAT officers streaming into the Capitol to wonder if the scene was secure or if a shooter was on the loose in the Capitol.
Loudermilk said records were missing for three other Byrd disciplinary incidents. “This is disappointing, as the inability to locate these documents hinders the subcommittee from fulfilling its responsibility to conduct comprehensive oversight over the USCP,” Loudermilk wrote.
FBI investigates Babbitt
Just eight days after Babbitt’s death, the FBI took the extraordinary step of opening an investigation into Babbitt and suggesting what federal charges she would have faced had she survived Byrd’s bullet. The FBI case file was opened on Babbitt by the FBI’s San Diego Field Office.
Documents released by the FBI in response to a 2021 Judicial Watch lawsuit show agents believed Babbitt could have been charged under 18 U.S.C §2101 for inciting a riot. That felony statute — which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison — was not used against any of the approximately 1,600 Jan. 6 defendants.
This form shows the FBI received information on Ashli Babbitt from a confidential human source, commonly known as an informant.Judicial Watch
Other “potential violations” listed by the FBI included felony civil disorder (18 U.S.C §231), misdemeanor charges of unlawful entry (18 U.S.C §1752a), and disorderly conduct/injuries to property (40 U.S.C §5104).
In February 2023, Judicial Watch filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the FBI for records on Ashli and Aaron Babbitt. Those requests were denied a month later.
Judicial Watch appealed the denials, and when the FBI failed to act on the appeals, the group filed a federal Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the FBI and DOJ on Jan. 17, 2024, seeking all records possessed by the FBI on Babbitt and her husband, Aaron.
Under an agreement between the DOJ and Judicial Watch, the FBI was to release “rolling productions” of documents. Given the change in presidential administration, the DOJ in February 2025 asked for a delay in releasing the next tranche of records. The DOJ faces an April 30 deadline for the next release and a May 16 deadline to issue a joint status report on the suit with Judicial Watch.
Doctor forced away from Babbitt
Another unanswered question is why California physician Dr. Austin Brendlen Harris was wrestled away as he provided medical assistance to Babbitt.
It’s unclear why Capitol Police would roughly remove a doctor carrying a large medical backpack who knelt down to help Babbitt. Video shows that a bicycle-patrol officer grabbed Dr. Harris, pulled him away from Babbitt, and rushed him down the hallway. The altercation nearly came to blows, video showed.
The question remains why Dr. Harris was manhandled while police failed to secure the crime scene and remove agitators who were doing nothing but obstructing rescue efforts. Video shows Capitol Police also forced riot medic Young Kim to stop lending medical aid after he had knelt down and looked for the bullet wound.
Dr. Austin Harris (in green), a physician from California, was wrestled away from Ashli Babbitt as he was about to start CPR in the hallway outside the Speaker’s Lobby on Jan. 6, 2021.Photos by Judicial Watch (inset) and Jayden X
In January 2023, Dr. Harris was charged by federal prosecutors with four misdemeanor counts: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. He pleaded guilty to the parading charge and was sentenced to three years of probation. He was pardoned under President Trump’s Jan. 20 declaration.
“If Dr. Harris had not been in one specific location within the building, he would not have had the opportunity to render aid to Ms. Ashli Babbitt after she was shot,” read Harris’ sentencing memo. “He was not involved in that area or situation before he heard the shot, but when he saw her fall, he did not hesitate. He ran toward her without thinking.
“As a physician who has worked in many significant trauma situations, this was second nature to him,” the sentencing memo read. “He wanted to help, to try to save her life. Unfortunately, as her pulse faded, and he was about to start CPR, he was prevented from acting further as law enforcement had to control the crowd and move protestors away from the situation; understandably so.”
Half of witnesses not identified
There were at least 55 people in the Speaker’s Lobby hallway directly before and after the shooting who should be considered material witnesses. However, even 52 months later, nearly half of them have not been publicly identified, including a number caught on video vandalizing the Capitol and inciting violence.
Perhaps the most notorious is #RedOnRedGlasses (middle of top row below), at whose feet Babbitt landed after being shot. He was found on video from all over Capitol grounds committing acts of vandalism. One viral video shows him launching a long two-by-four like a javelin through the window next to the Senate Wing Door at 2:12 p.m. He was on the FBI Jan. 6 most-wanted page from early in the Jan. 6 investigation, but was never identified, arrested, or tried.
Nearly 52 months after Jan. 6, these material witnesses present in the Speaker’s Lobby hallway when Ashli Babbitt was shot have not been publicly identified.Photos by U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. District Court, Sam Montoya
It seems inconceivable that the FBI does not know who these men are, but their identities remain a mystery, one that could eventually be solved as part of Babbitt’s wrongful-death lawsuit.
Two of the most suspicious persons in the area of the shooting were “Frick and Frack,” nicknamed such by a YouTube satirist in 2021. Frack and Frick (upper left in the graphic) were in the midst of the hallway crowd before Babbitt was shot. They were allowed to go behind the police line and stand down the stairs on a balcony — even as the Capitol Police SWAT team came up from the first floor.
Even after the crowd was cleared from the hallway, the men stayed behind and met with a top Capitol Police commander, who sent them with an escort to meet with detectives in an unmarked squad car at the edge of Capitol property.
After meeting with police for nearly 40 minutes, the men walked away from the Capitol. A 2024 Blaze News video investigation tracked the men from near the Capitol West Plaza as they helped protesters climb makeshift ladders to ascend the Northwest Steps. The investigation also disclosed the clandestine meeting of Capitol Police with Frick and Frack.
Frack, the heavier-set of the duo, provided a short video clip to Capitol Police from the shooting scene. Despite his offer to supply more of the video, there is no public indication that he did so. Nor have the identities of Frick and Frack been revealed by police. In many Jan. 6 cases, the FBI seized Jan. 6 video evidence along with personal cell phones, yet Frack walked away with his phone after meeting with police.
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