Este artículo estará disponible en español en El Tiempo Latino.
Quick Take
In his final hours as president, Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons for House committee members who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and the police officers who testified before that committee. Online posts make an unfounded claim that Biden pardoned the officer who shot and killed protester Ashli Babbitt. The officer, who was cleared of wrongdoing, wasn’t among those who testified.
Full Story
As the presidential transition took place this week, both former President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump issued pardons concerning the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Biden issued an Executive Grant of Clemency on Jan. 19 to preemptively pardon the members of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, the committee’s staff, and the officers of the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police who testified before the committee.
In a statement, Biden said he granted the unconditional pardon for the committee members, staff and witnesses because “those who perpetrated the January 6th attack” have tried to “seek revenge, including by threatening criminal prosecutions.”
Biden said: “The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.”
Among the police officers who testified before the committee were Harry Dunn and Aquilino Gonell of the U.S. Capitol Police, and Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department, according to news reports at the time and the committee’s report. Biden’s pardon doesn’t give specific names, but says that the pardon is for “the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee.”
But social media posts that went up the day after Biden issued the preemptive pardons claim with no evidence that Michael Byrd, the Capitol Police officer who shot and killed protester Ashli Babbitt, was pardoned by Biden. Byrd shot Babbitt when protesters “were forcing their way toward the House Chamber where Members of Congress were sheltering in place,” according to a Jan. 7 statement from then-U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund.
A Jan. 20 Facebook post by commentator Christina Aguayo claimed, “#BreakingNews Biden Has pardoned Michael Byrd, Byrd Shot & KILLED Ashli Babbitt…. The pardon applies to every police officer interviewed by the J6 Committee for ALL crimes committed before, on, or after J6.” The post shows photos of Babbitt and Byrd.
A similar post on X on Jan. 20 said, “Ashli Babbitt was an Air Force veteran who served this country for 12+ years and won awards for her Iraq service. Ashli was 5’2″, 115 pounds, unarmed. Lt. MICHAEL BYRD shot her in the neck. Biden just pardoned him.”
Contrary to the claims on social media, there is no evidence that Biden pardoned Byrd or that Byrd testified before the House committee on the Jan. 6 attack. Byrd is not mentioned in the select committee’s final report, and he isn’t among those in the report’s “full list” of committee witnesses.
The Shooting of Ashli Babbitt
On Jan. 6, 2021, rioters descended on the U.S. Capitol with the intention of disrupting a joint session of Congress that was certifying the 2020 election results. During the attack on the Capitol, more than 140 police officers were assaulted, and government property was destroyed. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, 1,583 people were charged with crimes associated with the attack, including “assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement,” entering a restricted area with a deadly weapon, theft of government property, and seditious activity.
In an August 2021 interview with NBC News, Byrd described his actions during the Jan. 6 attack. He was an officer in charge of defending the House of Representatives chamber, where 60 to 80 representatives were taking cover. When rioters broke through the glass door outside the Speaker’s Lobby, which leads to the House chamber, Babbitt attempted to climb through the door before Byrd shot her in the shoulder. Babbitt, a Trump supporter, died from her injuries.
In April 2021, the Department of Justice said it would not pursue criminal charges against Byrd and closed its investigation into Babbitt’s death. The DOJ said, “Specifically, the investigation revealed no evidence to establish that, at the time the officer fired a single shot at Ms. Babbitt, the officer did not reasonably believe that it was necessary to do so in self-defense or in defense of the Members of Congress and others evacuating the House Chamber.”
The U.S. Capitol Police released a statement on Aug. 23, 2021, following an internal investigation that found Byrd’s “conduct was lawful and within Department policy, which says an officer may use deadly force only when the officer reasonably believes that action is in the defense of human life, including the officer’s own life, or in the defense of any person in immediate danger of serious physical injury.”
But Trump has claimed Babbitt’s shooting was unwarranted, and he has been critical of Byrd’s actions. Trump said on Truth Social in 2023 that Byrd “was not a hero but a COWARD, who wanted to show how tough he was,” adding, “ASHLI BABBITT WAS MURDERED!!!”
During his first day in office, Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of individuals convicted of offenses “related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, to time served as of January 20, 2025.” The pardons he issued on Jan. 20 apply to more than 1,500 people who were convicted or charged, and he commuted the sentences of 14 individuals.
In January 2024, Babbitt’s family filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California seeking $30 million over her death, which the government has moved to dismiss.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Meta to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here. Meta has no control over our editorial content.
Sources
Biden, Joseph R., Jr. “Executive Grant of Clemency.” 19 Jan 2025.
Cooper, Jonathan J. “Who does Trump see as ‘enemies from within’?” Associated Press. 26 Oct 2024.
Dixon, Matt, Henry J. Gomez and Garrett Hakke. “Trump’s last-minute decision to go big on Jan. 6 pardons took many allies by surprise.” NBC News. 22 Jan 2024.
Feldman, Brian. “4 Officers Who Responded to Capitol Riot Will Deliver 1st Testimonies to New Panel.” NPR. 27 July 2021.
Lee, Ella. “Trial in Ashli Babbitt family’s lawsuit over Jan. 6 death set for 2026.” The Hill. 20 Sep 2024.
Lee, Jazmin. “Trump’s Expansive Jan. 6 Pardons a Last-Minute Decision.” NBC News. 19 Jan 2025.
“Donald Trump Press Conference Announcement Transcript: Sues Facebook, Twitter, Google Over Censorship Claims.” Rev. 7 Jul 2021.
Schapiro, Rich, Anna Schecter and Chelsea Damberg. “Officer who shot Ashli Babbitt during Capitol riot breaks silence: ‘I saved countless lives.'” NBC News. 26 Aug 2021.
Shabad, Rebecca. “Biden issues pre-emptive pardons for Jan. 6 committee and witnesses, Anthony Fauci and Mark Milley.” NBC News. 20 Jan 2025.
Sonmez, Felicia. “Trump says ‘there was no reason’ for officer to shoot rioter who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.” Washington Post. 7 Jul 2021.
Stark, Matt. “Ashli Babbitt’s Mother Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Capitol Shooting.” CBS News. 19 Jan 2025.
U.S. Capitol Police. “Statement of Steven Sund, Chief of Police, Regarding the Events of January 6, 2021.” Press release. 7 Jan 2021.
U.S. Capitol Police. “USCP Completes Internal Investigation of January 6 Officer-Involved Shooting.” 23 Aug 2021.
U.S. Department of Justice. “Department of Justice Closes Investigation into Death of Ashli Babbitt.” United States Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia. 14 Apr 2023.
U.S. Department of Justice. “Pardons Granted by President Joe Biden (2021-Present).” Office of the Pardon Attorney. Accessed 23 Jan 2025.
White House. “Granting Pardons and Commutation of Sentences for Certain Offenses Relating to the Events at or Near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.” 20 Jan 2025.
Wise, Alana. “What You Need To Know About The Officers Testifying Before Jan. 6 Committee.” NPR. 27 Jul 2021.