On June 6, 2025, the Department of Justice and the estate of Ashli Babbitt signed a settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch on behalf of Ashli’s family.

The man who shot and killed Ashli was Lieutenant Michael Byrd, who had a checkered history in handling firearms and dubious justification for the shooting. But the questions about why Ashli had to die go far beyond the questions about the actions of Byrd.

Here are the events in the last hours of Ashli’s life.

On January 6, Ashli went to Washington, D.C., to see President Donald Trump speak at the Ellipse (at 01:32 in the linked video), then walked to the Capitol (at 01:45). According to statements in the lawsuit, she climbed the stairs to the West Terrace followed by two undercover Metropolitan Police Department officers. Nobody tried to stop her. She then entered the Capitol on the Senate side, and the lawsuit states: “Once inside, Ashli encountered a female Capitol Police Officer, who directed her to walk south towards the House side.”

Which she did. She walked through the Capitol Rotunda, one of many making their way politely between two velvet ropes (at 03:00).

She arrived at the foyer leading to the Speaker’s lobby. Three members of the Capitol Hill Police, Officer Kyle Yetter, Officer Christopher Lanciano, and Sergeant Timothy Lively, were standing in front of the doors (at 03:42). Two windows had already been hit and were cracked, but despite this attack, the officers left their posts and headed towards the steps (at 03:48).

The moment they began to go, members of the crowd filled the void and started banging on the windows again. With the attack happening right in front of them, the officers did nothing (at 04:30).

One of the attackers was Zachary Alam, who smashed the windows with a black helmet.

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