Ashli ​​Babbitt shooter to reveal identity to Nester News’ Lester Holt

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A photo of this driver’s license from the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), issued to the AP by the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office, is shown to Ashli ​​Babbitt.

Maryland MVA | Courtesy of the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office by AP

The police officer who killed Ashli ​​Babbitt, who participated in the pro-Trump raid on the U.S. Capitol, will reveal her identity for the first time in a television interview set to air Thursday night.

The NBC Nightly News interview with Lester Holt, scheduled for 6:30 pm ET, is set to air three days after the U.S. Capitol Police Department announced it would not discipline the officer following an internal investigation into the shooting last January 6.

The Department of Justice had previously said it would not pursue criminal charges against the officer, whose identity has not yet been disclosed.

Babbitt, who was part of a crowd of Trump supporters who rushed to the Capitol, tried to climb through the entrance of the cracked glass door outside the Speaker’s lobby, which leads to the Chamber chamber, the DOJ investigation found. The officer, who was inside thelobby, drew his service pistol and shot Babbitt once left shoulder, causing him to fall back to the floor. He was taken to Washington Hospital Center, where he died.

Ever since he died, Babbitt has been a martyr on the far right. Online crowdfunding pages for his family have raised thousands of dollars. Former President Donald Trump earlier this month released a statement saying he spoke to Babbitt’s mother and claimed he was “killed at the hands of someone who shouldn’t have pulled the trigger of his gun.”

The family of 35-year-old Air Force veteran Babbitt has vowed to file a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the police department and the officer who fired the gun. Babbitt’s family is also currently suing to force Washington to provide records revealing the identity of the officer who shot him.

Capitol police said Monday that the officer and his family “have been the subject of numerous credible and specific threats.”

Terrell Roberts, an attorney for Babbitt’s family, questioned the search in light of the upcoming interview.

“Did the Capitol Police fear that by recognizing the officer that he would be exposed to extreme danger evaporated into thin air?” Roberts said in an email to CNBC.

The sit-down officer will “share his perspective on events that day, including the outcome of the deadly uprising and the threats he received,” NBC said in a statement.

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He will also discuss the USCP’s conclusion that his actions in the capitol during the unrest were “lawful and within Department policy.”

That policy states that an officer may only use lethal force when he or she “reasonably believes that the action is in defense of human life, including the officer’s life, or in defense of any person in immediate danger. of serious physical injury. “

An earlier investigation was completed in April by the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington.

It was learned that Babbitt, one of hundreds of rioters who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, was part of a crowd that rushed into a hallway outside the Speaker’s Lobby, leading to the Chamber chamber.

Members of that mob tried to break down the glass doors between the hallway and the lobby, where officers barricaded furniture, the DOJ investigation found.

Trump spread false conspiracy theories of a rigged election that forced some of his supporters to invade the Capitol. At a rally outside the White House on Jan. 6, Trump urged his followers to march on the Capitol and pressure Republicans to challenge the state election votes for President Joe Biden.

Hundreds of Trump supporters who stormed the building on Jan. 6 forced a joint session of Congress to evacuate their rooms and hide from the mob, temporarily halting confirmation of Biden’s victory.

“They’re really there to‘ Stop the Robbery, ’” Capitol Police PFC Harry Dunn said at a hearing last month before a select committee of lawmakers investigating the Capitol raid.

That committee was formed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., After Senate Republicans rejected an effort to form an equally bipartisan, “9/11-style” commission in the aggression attempt.

On Wednesday, the select committee released extensive requests for notes from several federal agencies, as well as the Trump White House, as part of their review.

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