BREAKING: DC Medical Examiner’s Office Rules Ashli Babbitt’s Death at Capitol a Homicide
Evan James
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The DC Medical Examiner’s Office has determined Ashli Babbitt’s death to be a homicide.
“On Wednesday, January 6, 2021 an unprecedented incident of civil insurrection at the United States Capitol resulted in the deaths of five individuals,” the summary read. “The District of Columbia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Francisco J. Diaz, MD, FCAP, has issued the following determinations as to the cause and manner of death for four of those individuals.”
Ashli Babbitt, who had been shot by a US Capitol Police officer during the fracas, was killed by a bullet to the left anterior shoulder. Dr. Diaz ruled the manner of death a homicide.
The summary also reads that the “cause and manner of death for Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick are pending.”
As for the others who died, Kevin Greeson and Benjamin Phillips suffered strokes—described in the report as “hypertensive artherosclerotic cardiovascular disease”—and Roseanne Boyland, who lost consciousness and was crushed in the melee, had suffered “acute amphetamine intoxication.”
Despite the designation of Babbitt’s death as a homicide, it is probable that nothing further will come from this. Back in February police investigators did not recommend charges against the officer who shot and killed her. From NBC News:
Videos show rioters who made it into the building breaking glass on doors near the House Chamber, which were blocked haphazardly from the inside with chairs in an attempt to prevent the mob from entering. As Babbitt tried to climb through the shattered glass, she was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer who fired at her once.
The officer, who has not been identified by Capitol Police or investigators, “used clear appropriate use of force. It’s not even a close call,” said the officer’s lawyer, Mark E. Schamel.
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