The Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Trump administration has agreed to settle a $30 million wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Ashli Babbitt for just under $5 million in taxpayer funds, according to multiple reports.

Babbitt, a U.S. Air Force veteran and follower of the fascist QAnon conspiracy theory, was fatally shot while participating in the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Video footage showed her at the front of a violent mob attempting to breach a secured hallway where lawmakers were being evacuated.

Replicating a technique previously used by other rioters to breach the Capitol, Babbitt attempted to climb through a shattered window in a barricaded door when she was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer. A DOJ investigation found no wrongdoing on the part of the officer, and no charges were filed. Yet now, without a trial, the department has agreed to pay millions in a settlement—funded entirely by the public.

The January 6 attack—an attempted coup orchestrated by Trump and his fascist allies— was a deliberate effort to overturn the 2020 election and install Trump as dictator by force. On the basis of the repeatedly debunked lie that the election had been stolen, Trump summoned his supporters to Washington, D.C., on the day Congress was set to certify Joe Biden’s victory.

Trump’s coup was not the product of a lone individual and a handful of “crazy” collaborators, as falsely portrayed by the House January 6 Select Committee. It was a conspiracy that enlisted allies within law enforcement, the military, and the broader political establishment.

Despite the scale and coordination of the coup attempt, numerous high-level conspirators—including Republican lawmakers, U.S. Army generals, Supreme Court justices, and Trump himself—have never been held accountable, either politically or legally. The Biden administration refused to pursue broader prosecutions, instead emphasizing the need for a “strong” Republican Party.

Biden and the Democrats were—and remain—far more terrified of provoking a mass movement in the working class that could spiral out of their control than they are of Trump and the threat of dictatorship.

The violent attempt to overturn the election shocked and outraged people around the world. Ashli Babbitt stood at the forefront of that assault.

Since the attack, Babbitt has been elevated to martyr status in far-right and fascist circles, with Trump himself praising her role in the insurrection. In a March interview with the far-right media network Newsmax, Trump even suggested he might personally intervene in the lawsuit brought by her family. Responding to the claim that the DOJ had no intention of settling the lawsuit, Trump said:

Well, I’ll look into that. I mean, you’re just telling me that for the first time, I haven’t heard that. I’m a big fan of Ashli Babbitt. And Ashli Babbitt was a really good person who was a big MAGA fan, Trump fan. And she was innocently standing there—they even say trying to sort of hold back the crowd. And a man did something to her that was unthinkable when he shot her.

Trump’s fabricated narrative is a deliberate distortion. Babbitt was not a bystander—she was an active participant in the assault. His glorification of her actions serves to whitewash the coup attempt and legitimize the broader fascist movement he is cultivating.

Trump’s proposed settlement with Babbitt’s family is a clear incitement to political violence. The message is unmistakable: those who break the law in service of Trump’s will are to be rewarded and protected.

The Democrats have responded to the settlement and Trump’s ongoing efforts to cultivate a fascist movement with a handful of statements vigorously defending the police, while remaining silent on Trump’s political objectives.

On May 20, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D–New York) wrote on X:

The Trump admin is disrespecting the Capitol Police by awarding $5 MILLION to the family of Ashley Babbitt… This sends a sickening message to police and first responders When it matters most, Trump will turn his back on you.

At a May 20 hearing, Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin—a Democrat and former member of the House January 6 Select Committee—chastised Trump for giving “millions of dollars to Babbitt’s family and nothing to the families of the police officers who defended the Capitol.”

Emboldened by the Democrats’ inaction in the face of his dictatorial rampage, Trump continues to dispense corrupt patronage to his political allies and supporters. The DOJ settlement follows his decision to issue commutations and pardons for roughly 1,600 individuals involved in the attempted coup, including leaders of fascist militia groups such as the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys—many of whom were convicted of serious federal crimes, including seditious conspiracy.

Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, was also among those pardoned by Trump earlier this year. A close associate of Republican political operative and longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone, Tarrio played a leading role in breaching the Capitol. In his first interview after being released from a 22-year sentence for multiple felonies—including seditious conspiracy—Tarrio reaffirmed his loyalty to the fascist Trump and signaled future violent intentions:

Success is going to be retribution. We gotta do everything in our power to make sure that the next four years sets us up for the next 100 years.

Emulating their leader, more than four dozen of the insurrectionists pardoned by Trump are now seeking to profit from their role in the coup, according to a report earlier this month by the Washington Post. These “J6ers” are selling merchandise, hosting podcasts, running for elected office, and—in some cases—committing violent crimes.

On May 9, one of the insurrectionists pardoned by Trump, Zachary Alam, was arrested outside Richmond, Virginia, on charges of felony burglary and misdemeanor vandalism. Less than two years earlier, in September 2023, a jury had found Alam guilty of seven felonies and three misdemeanors for his actions on January 6, including assaulting police with a deadly weapon—a black helmet.

When sentencing Alam to eight years in prison in November 2024, the judge described his case as “by far the loudest, the most combative, and the most violent of the rioters.” Witnesses testified that Alam was among the first to enter the Capitol and that he smashed the glass of the door Babbitt later attempted to climb through before being shot.