Trump Vows Justice For Ashli Babbitt And Potential Compensation For Jan. 6 Protesters
President Donald Trump has renewed his support for the Americans arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 protests and signaled that financial compensation for some of the targeted individuals may be on the table.
In a Tuesday night interview, Trump praised Ashli Babbitt, calling her a patriot and victim of a senseless act of violence. “Ashli Babbitt was a really good person who was a big MAGA fan,” he said, describing how she had been trying to keep the crowd calm before she was gunned down.
The officer who shot her, Michael Byrd, has come under renewed scrutiny due to past disciplinary problems. He was previously investigated for lying to internal affairs and even left his post unattended to join a card game, records show.
Despite that, Byrd was not only allowed to remain on the force, but later received a promotion to captain and was awarded over $36,000 in retention bonuses and various security reimbursements.
Trump said his administration would take a closer look at Byrd’s actions and the broader implications of his continued employment. He said he was unaware of the $30 million wrongful death lawsuit filed by Babbitt’s family but indicated interest in reviewing it.
Hundreds of Trump supporters were imprisoned or fined in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 protests, many for nonviolent offenses or without even entering the Capitol. Trump said that his administration has been discussing ways to compensate those who were “treated so unfairly.”
On his first day in office, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 individuals who were prosecuted by the Biden administration. Many of them had been subjected to lengthy sentences or solitary confinement.
Calls for compensation have also been echoed by Ed Martin, Trump’s new lead prosecutor in Washington, who is said to support some form of restitution for those wrongfully imprisoned.
Raheem Kassam of The National Pulse has argued that pardons alone are not enough and that the Jan. 6 Committee should be held accountable for its role in persecuting Trump supporters.
