EXONERATED

Capitol Police Clear Cop Who Killed Ashli Babbitt at Jan. 6 Riot

The agency said it “determined the officer’s conduct was lawful and within Department policy.”

The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) internal affairs unit will not discipline an officer over the fatal shooting of Jan. 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt, the agency announced Monday. In a statement, USCP said its Office of Professional Responsibility “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 has not been identified for their own safety; USCP’s statement said the officer and the officer’s family “have been the subject of numerous credible and specific threats for actions that were taken as part of the job of all our officers: defending the Congress, Members, staff and the democratic process.” In April, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced it would not press charges against the officer.