Investigation not complete, no recommendation made to US Attorney’s Office in Washington, DC
US investigators could not find evidence in an inquiry to charge an officer in fatal shooting of a former President Donald Trump supporter during the Capitol riots, according to law enforcement officials.
Ashli Babbitt, 35, was one of the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6 that left five people dead including her.
Babbitt, a US Air Force veteran, was among a dozen unarmed people who were trying to breach a barricaded door inside the building guarded by three Capitol Police officers.
As the officers moved away, the group started to smash the windows to access the Speaker’s Lobby. As glasses shattered, a police lieutenant on the other side fired a single shot at Babbitt's neck, who immediately fell to the ground.
The footage of the events, which widely circulated social media, and accounts of witnesses show that the lieutenant was left alone to confront the group, according to findings of the preliminary investigation.
The Metropolitan Police Department said "it would be premature to make any comment that any conclusion had been reached" about the investigation, a controversial ruling that infuriated the Republican base.
The department, however, added that the investigation was not complete and it has not made any recommendation to the US Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. that has the power to prosecute the lieutenant.
The Justice Department and the Capitol Police said they cannot comment on active investigations.
After her death, Babbitt's social media accounts were filled with support messages about Trump and the QAnon movement.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Monday slammed QAnon theories circulated by Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
"Somebody who's suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.'s airplane is not living in reality," he said in a statement.
McConnell did not specifically pointed out to Greene in his statement, but defined "loony lies and conspiracy theories" as a "cancer for the Republican Party."
Greene, a supporter of the QAnon movement, has appeared on some social media posts calling for the execution of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats.
While she endorsed conspiracy theories that the 9/11 attacks and mass school shootings were hoaxes, she claimed the California wildfires in 2018 were caused by a laser from space controlled by a Jewish family.
