NBC News Journalist Lester Holt is scheduled to interview the unidentified U.S. Capitol Police officer that fatally shot Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to the outlet’s Wednesday announcement.
In the upcoming Thursday interview, the officer is expected to reveal their identity to the public for the first time after the widespread speculation surrounding the death of Babbitt, who died from a gunshot wound to the left shoulder as she entered the U.S. House Chamber through a barricaded door, according to the announcement.
The officer is expected to give a personal account on the events that took place during and after the riot, NBC News reported. He will also give details about the reported death threats he received.
Who killed Ashli Babbitt?
He’s gonna sit down with @LesterHoltNBC pic.twitter.com/fGx49fHHyu— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) August 25, 2021
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt receives nearly 30 million views weekly through its broadcast and millions more through the internet, the announcement said. (RELATED: Trump Released Cryptic Statement About Ashli Babbitt)
The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) announced Monday that the officer will not receive any form of disciplinary action, concluding that the shooting was “lawful and within Department policy.” Under USCP policy, an officer is permitted to use deadly force against an individual when there is reason to believe that the action defends themselves or someone else appearing to be in danger.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia’s Police Corruption and Civil Rights Section and the Civil Rights Division, along with the Metropolitan Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division conducted an investigation into the incident, concluding that there was no substantial evidence that the officer violated Babbitt’s constitutional rights, according to NPR. Federal prosecutors declined to press charges against the officer in an April 14 statement, saying that “he acted in self defense and in defense of members of Congress.”
The DOJ’s decision prompted Babbitt’s husband, Aaron, and his lawyer Terrell Roberts to file a lawsuit in an effort to obtain the identity of the officer under the Freedom of Information Act. The pair demanded access to footage, witness statements and documents held by the Metropolitan Police Department in connection to Babbitt’s death.
Roberts said that he suspects the identity of the officer has been unrevealed because there is “no explanation” for the shooting in a June 14 appearance with Fox News host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson.
“I think one of the reasons why they are hiding his identity is they don’t have a good explanation for this shooting. I think that if Ashli Babbitt had been brandishing a firearm and then she was shot, the officer would be identified by now and they would be pinning a metal on him,” Roberts said. “So I don’t think they have a good explanation for the shooting and that’s why they have not identified him.”