to Transfer Ashli Babbitt $30 Million Wrongful Death Lawsuit from California to Washington, DC Judicial Watch announced today that it has asked a federal court to deny the U.S. Government’s request to transfer the Ashli Babbitt wrongful death lawsuit from California to Washington, DC. Among other legal points, Judicial Watch argues it would prejudice the case and be unjust for Ashli’s family if it were transferred to the hostile forum of District of Columbia.
Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit on January 5, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on behalf of the family of Ashli Babbitt, the U.S. Air Force veteran who was shot and killed inside the U.S. Capitol by then-Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd on January 6, 2021 (Estate of Ashli Babbitt and Aaron Babbitt, et al. v. United States of America (No. 3:24-cv-00033)).
Babbitt was a 35-year-old resident of San Diego, CA, where she owned and operated a successful pool business with her husband Aaron. Ashli traveled alone from San Diego to Washington, DC, to attend the Women for America First (aka Save America) rally on January 6, 2021, at the Ellipse.