BREAKING: Trump admin secures settlement for family of Ashli Babbitt

The Trump administration has reached a preliminary settlement with Ashli Babbitt's family. Babbitt was the Trump supporter who was fatally shot by Capitol Police Officer Michael Byrd.

According to CBS News, multiple sources told the outlet that a settlement has been reached in principle, but has not yet been signed. An attorney to the Babbitt family confirmed that the settlement in principle has been reached as well.

The Babbitt estate brought a lawsuit against the US government under the Biden administration and alleged that Byrd was negligent in his use of force and firing his gun at Babbitt.

Babbitt had been in the frame of a window when the officer fired, killing the Trump supporter on January 6, 2021 as a riot and protest ensued at the building. "Ashli was unarmed," the suit said. "Her hands were up in the air, empty, and in plain view of Lt. Byrd and other officers in the lobby. Ashli posed no threat to the safety of anyone."

In a 2021 review of the case from the Capitol Police, the department found that Byrd may have saved lives of staffers. The only person that died directly from the activities of January 6 was Babbitt. 

The case was initially argued in California, but was transferred to Washington, DC, where the Biden DOJ defended the US government in the case in 2024. The Biden DOJ argued, "Although officers had barricaded the Speaker's Lobby doors with heavy furniture, demonstrators broke through the glass panels of the lobby doors and matching windows (called 'sidelights') on either side of the doors."

"Michael Byrd, a US Capitol Police lieutenant, was positioned on the other side of the lobby doors. When Ms. Babbitt, wearing a backpack, tried to climb through a sidelight into the Speaker's Lobby, Lt. Byrd fatally shot her," the Biden DOJ added in a court filing.

Leading up to the settlement, Trump said that the administration was weighing bringing a settlement in the case after Biden left office.